Houston/Washington: A 32-year-old Indian engineer was killed and another Indian man and an American were injured after a US Navy veteran yelling “get out of my country” and “terrorist” opened fire on them at a bar in Kansas City in an apparent racially motivated hate crime.
Hyderabad’s Srinivas Kuchibhotla, working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, died of bullet injuries in a hospital.
His Indian colleague Alok Madasani of Warangal was critically injured when the 51-year-old man went on a shooting spree after hurling racial slurs following an altercation on Wednesday night.
A third person, an American man identified as Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene also received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe in Kansas City in the US state of Missouri.
The shooting comes at a time when hate crimes and acts of bigotry have risen notably in America after President Donald Trump came to power. The incident sent shock waves among Indian-American and the Indian community across the United States.
The shooter, Adam Purinton, reportedly got into an argument with the victims in the terms of racism, and shouted “get out of my country”, “terrorist” before shooting them.
Purinton reportedly provoked them into an argument asking about their presence and work in his country, and how they are better than him.
According to the police, Purinton left the bar after the argument and then returned with a gun and shot the three men while patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television in the bar.
The shooter was arrested five hours after the incident and charged with murder and attempted murder.
Authorities declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although the local police said they were working with the FBI to investigate the case.
“It was a tragic and senseless act of violence,” Olathe police chief Steven Menke told reporters.
The FBI has joined local police authorities in the investigation.
“The FBI is investigating to determine if the shooting of Kuchibhotla, was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims’ civil rights,” Eric Jackson, special agent in- charge of the FBI’s Kansas City office told reporters.
Asked if the presence of federal authorities indicated the shooting could be considered a hate crime, the officer said it was too early to determine.
Kuchibhotla posted on LinkedIn in 2014 that he managed helicopter programmes. He had a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad. A 2014 post on LinkedIn said Madasani was an aviation programme coordinator manager at Garmin.
The shooter, a navy veteran with inactive pilot license and air traffic controller certificate, told a bartender in Clinton, Missouri, where he was hiding after the shooting that he killed two Middle Eastern persons, local media reported.
He has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and his bond has been set at USD 2 million.
According to Kansas City Star, the shooter worked as an air traffic controller in Olathe. He also worked at the Federal Aviation Administration, but left it in 2000.
Friends of Kuchibhotla have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for sending his remains to India.
“Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being,” the fund raising page said.
“His wife Sunayana and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of expenses,” it said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Kuchibhotla,” said Jay Kansara, director of government relations at Hindu American Foundation.
The third victim, Grillot in an interview from the hospital said that he hid behind a table when Purinton opened fire. He counted the gunshots and when he thought the gunman was out of bullets, he jumped up to stop him but Purinton still had one round left, and he used it to shoot Grillot. The bullet went through his hand and into his chest.
Grillot said that he learned Madasani’s wife is five months pregnant and that he considers the engineer his new best friend. The sports bar where the shooting took place has been closed with a sign on the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.
