Kansas man accused of fatally shooting Indian engineer after shouting 'get out of my country'

[ChineseTiger1986]

A Kansas man is accused of shooting and killing an Indian immigrant engineer he thought was Middle Eastern and wounding two others after shouting "get out of my country" and opening fire.

Adam Purinton was arrested after fleeing Austin's Bar and Grill, a suburban Kansas City restaurant that was packed Wednesday night when he allegedly blasted off several rounds at 7:15 p.m.

Cops arrested the 51-year-old at an Applebee's hours later in Clinton, Mo., some 80 miles away after they were able to negotiate with him over the phone early Thursday morning.

Purinton was charged with premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder, Johnson County, Kan., District Attorney Steve Howe said at an afternoon press conference.

The slain victim was identified by authorities as Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an aviation engineer at technology company Garmin, originally Hyderabad, India.

Kuchibhotla's co-worker Alok Madasani, a 32-year-old whose LinkedIn page shows he also attended school in India before moving to the Kansas City area in the mid 2000s, was wounded in the shooting and remains at the hospital.

Garmin spokeswoman Carly Hysell told the Daily News that the company is not publicly identifying the employees, but that the second worker is no longer in critical condition.

A GoFundMe page for Kuchibhotla's loved ones had raised more than $38,000 as of Thursday afternoon as those who knew the engineer mourned his passing.

Siva Sattanathan, a friend of both Kuchibhotla and Madasani from their days working together in Iowa, told the Daily News that pair, both Hindus from Hyderabad, were good friends.

"He was very polite. He could not start a fight at all," Sattanathan said, adding that the slain immigrant was known for his friendliness.

Another fundraising page for the third victim, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, said he "stood up for two people being mistreated by a man" but then "found himself in the wrong place trying to be a helping hand."

Witnesses told the Kansas City Star that Purinton been drinking hard, and continually exclaimed racial slurs. When a bar regular told him to stop, the man yelled "get out of my country" before he started shooting.

Purinton allegedly told a bartender at the second bar, in Missouri, that he had killed two men who he called "Middle Eastern."

Prosecutors and police did not elaborate on details of the shooting at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

An FBI representative said that investigators are looking into whether the shooting violated federal laws such as those involving hate crimes.

Purinton appeared in court on Thursday and waived extradition so he can be taken back to Kansas.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-shouting-racial-slurs-kills-wounds-article-1.2980033

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Very sad event. RIP...

 

[Kaniska]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-shouting-racial-slurs-kills-wounds-article-1.2980033

my advice for RSS, careful what you wish for

This is our tragedy that such kind of diversity can only be seen in India only...

 

[Imad.Khan]

wouldn't this be classified as a terror attack? oh wait i forgot the victims wern't white

 

[Śakra]

wouldn't this be classified as a terror attack? oh wait i forgot the victims wern't white

You mean to say the perpetrator was white so it can't be labelled a terrorist attack.

 

[cloud4000]

I wonder how all those Indians who supported and voted for Trump feel about this tragedy? Don't they know that many Trump supporters think that all brown people are either Middle Eastern and/or Muslim? How many Indians -- Sikhs especially -- have been attacked and killed because they were mistaken for being Muslim since 9/11?

Wake up, people!

 

[Safriz]

Indians go all supportive and partying when similar violence is done against Muslim or even better when it's done against Pakistani.
Now the surpant of hate they supported is biting them.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I wonder how all those Indians who supported and voted for Trump feel about this tragedy? Don't they know that many Trump supporters think that all brown people are either Middle Eastern and/or Muslim? How many Indians -- Sikhs especially -- have been attacked and killed because they were mistaken for being Muslim since 9/11?

Wake up, people!

Well you have to blame 9/11 for much of this and not everything at Trump. That nut job guy explicitly said he thought they were from the Middle East.

Trump is only saying "look at the mess in Europe due to out of control refugee immigration...do you really want that here"

 

[Hindustani78]

wouldn't this be classified as a terror attack? oh wait i forgot the victims wern't white

Such attack for sure is to spoil Republic of India and United States of America growing relations.

US Soldiers were in Republic of India for Aero India 2017 event and such attack for sure is linked with outside powers.






http://zeenews.india.com/india/indi...sketball-game-know-what-happened_1980685.html

Kansas: In a frightful incident, an Indian-origin man was killed and another injured on Wednesday night after a former Navy serviceman at a bar in Kansas in the US allegedly opened fire at them, yelling, "get out of my country".

The injured techie was rushed to a hospital. He has now been discharged.

Adam W Purinton, 51, reportedly shot dead Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and injured Alok Madasani at around 7:15 pm on Wednesday.

Purinton was charged in Johnson County, Kansas with one count of premeditated first degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first degree murder

At least one witness at Austins Bar and Grill has claimed that Purtinton was screaming racial slurs before opening fire as patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on TV.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, meanwhile, tweeted: "I am shocked at the shooting incident in Kansas in which Srinivas Kuchibhotla has been killed. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family."

"I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Mr.Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials (Consul RD Joshi and VC H Singh) have rushed to Kansas."

She further vowed to provide "all help and assistance to the bereaved family".

As per officials, the accused mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners".

The man also shot and injured Ian Grillot, 24, a non-Indian American who is hailed as a hero, as he tried to protect the two during the attack on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kansas State.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has described the attack as a hate crime. But officials had not classified it a hate crime as of Thursday night, saying they were investigating the angle.

Purinton was arrested in Clinton city of neighbouring Missouri state when a bartender reported to police about him, saying that he had killed "two Middle Eastern men", according to local police quoted by The Star.

"It was a tragic and senseless act of violence," Olathe Police chief Steven Menke said.

According to his profile on LinkedIn, Kuchibhotla, 32, graduated from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad in 2005 with an electrical engineering degree.

He received a master`s degree from the University of Texas in El Paso and was working as an aviation programme manager with Garmin, an electronics manufacturer best known for its consumer navigation systems.

The manager at Rockwell Collins, Kuchibhotla`s former employer, Rod Larson, told the Star: "He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy. His personality was exceptional."

Madasani, 32, was a graduate of the Vasavi College of Engineering in Hyderabad. He was also a manager at Garmin.

The HAF condemned the attacks, describing the killings as "the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the US after the bitter Presidential Election".

"We call upon the US Department of Justice and local law enforcement to investigate this murder as what it is, a hate crime," Jay Kansara, HAF`s Director of Government Relations, said.

"Anything less will be an injustice to the victims and their families."

Federal officials on Thursday joined local public prosecutor Steve Howe when he charged Purinton with premeditated and attempted murder.

According to The Star, federal officials said they were investigating to determine if the attack bias-motivated hate crime.

The Star reported that acting federal prosecutor for Kansas, Tom Beall, said his office would be evaluating the case and "there will probably be more to come later from us".


First Published: Friday, February 24, 2017 - 09:09

*-******

Kuchibhotla (32) hailed from Hyderabad while Alok Madasani, also 32, hails from Warangal town in Telangana. They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

Garmin do sell equipment to US Military and its like to stop relations .

 

[Mugwop]

indians have been targeted way before 9/11. Have you people heard of the Dot busters in new jersey?

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...as-shooting/article17359857.ece?homepage=true

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured”, says an Embassy release.
The U.S. Embassy here strongly condemned the shooting at Olathe in Kansas that killed an Indian engineer and injured his friend and colleague, an Indian, and an American.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kuchibhotla. We share their grief, and wish a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured”, an Embassy release said.

“We have reached out to Indian consular officials to offer full support as they assist the victims. We understand that the alleged shooter is in custody and is expected to be prosecuted for the crime. U.S. Federal authorities are also investigating the case. We have full faith that U.S. legal authorities will bring the case to justice”.

Mary Kay Carlson, Chargé d’Affaires said, “We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. U.S. authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognize that justice is a small consolation to the families in grief.”

**********************

 

[Mugwop]

Well you have to blame 9/11 for much of this and not everything at Trump. That nut job guy explicitly said he thought they were from the Middle East.

Trump is only saying "look at the mess in Europe due to out of control refugee immigration...do you really want that here"

No it's not 9/11 it's the xenophobic and sadistic nature of european immigrants to blame.

 

[hussain0216]

A few years of Trump and all foreign and even domestic darkies will have trouble in the U.S

 

[cloud4000]

Well you have to blame 9/11 for much of this and not everything at Trump. That nut job guy explicitly said he thought they were from the Middle East.

Trump is only saying "look at the mess in Europe due to out of control refugee immigration...do you really want that here"

Not blaming Trump directly for the incident, but some of his supporters are not known for being specific or nuanced. They think you can spot a Muslim just by looks alone.

 

[Hindustani78]

indians have been targeted way before 9/11. Have you people heard of the Dot busters in new jersey?

But that guy was working in US defense industry .

Not blaming Trump directly for the incident, but some of his supporters are not known for being specific or nuanced. They think you can spot a Muslim just by looks alone.

Try to think a bit more bigger . Gramin produces defense equipment.