FBI investigating Kansas shooting as hate crime
Murder suspect yelled, ‘Get out of my country’
Murder suspect yelled, ‘Get out of my country’ before shooting
The FBI is investigating the shooting death of an Indian man in a Kansas bar last week as a hate crime, the agency announced Tuesday.
Adam Purinton, 51, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder after police say he returned to Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe last Wednesday night after being escorted out, yelled “Get out of my country” and opened fire.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani, 32, was wounded. Both men were from India and worked at a nearby tech firm. The suspect had confronted the two earlier at the bar over their visas, witnesses said.
A third man who tried to stop the attack also was wounded.
Hours later, a bartender in Clinton, Mo., called 911 and said a man walked into an Applebee’s restaurant and announced he had “killed two Iranians.” The woman warned police not to arrive with sirens blaring for fear Purinton would “freak out.”
Police arrested Purinton without incident a short time later.
“Based upon the initial investigative activity, the FBI, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, is investigating this incident as a hate crime,” the FBI’s Kansas City Division said in a statement. “The FBI will continue to work jointly with the Olathe Police Department and our state and local partners regarding the ongoing investigation.”
The White House expressed concern over the shooting for the second day in a row.
“The president condemns these and any other racially and religiously motivated attacks,” White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said. “They have no place in our country, and we will continue to make that clear.”
Kuchibhotla worked for the GPS device-maker Garmin, and company officials pledged to ensure Kuchibhotla’s wife can return to the United States after traveling to India for her husband’s burial, The Kansas City
Star reported. Garmin said Kuchibhotla had a work permit, which allowed his wife, Sunayana Dumala, to live and work in the United States.
“My husband came to the United States with lots of dreams,” she said. “We made Kansas our home; we made Olathe our home.”
Hundreds of friends and family members mourned Kuchibhotla on Tuesday in the engineer’s southern Indian hometown of Hyderabad in Telangana state. His parents, Madhusudhan Rao and Parvatha Vardhini, wept as his body was cremated, the Associated Press reported.
Losing a young family member is an unbearable pain, P.L. Narayana, his uncle, told the AP.
“It is so cruel. He was such a kind soul,” he said. “He was so excited he and his wife were going to start a family soon.”
Kuchibhotla’s mother said her son told her he felt safe in America.
“Now I want my younger son Sai Kiran and his family to come back for good,” she told the AP. “I will not allow them to go back.”
The Telangana American Telugu Association issued a list of “useful tips” for ethnic Indians in the United States. Among recommendations: Don’t speak Indian languages in public, don’t argue in public, try not to be alone in public and “do not hesitate to call 911. Officers can come and help in such situations.”
“My husband came to the United States with lots of dreams. We made Kansas our home; we made Olathe our home.” Sunayana Dumala