Feb. 24 (UPI) — A man was arrested in Missouri early Thursday morning on charges he allegedly shot at and killed a man, and shot two others, in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation said may be a hate crime.
Witnesses say Adam Purinton used racial slurs and told several men to “get out of my country” before opening fire Wednesday night at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas. Purinton was arrested hours later after he walked into an Applebee’s in Missouri talking about the Kansas shooting.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, both from India and employees at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, were targeted and shot at the bar, and Ian Grillot, who attempted to intervene in the racially charged scene, was shot as well. Kuchibhotla later died at the hospital, while Madasani and Grillot are both in stable condition.
In addition to local police investigating the crime, the FBI is looking into the shooting as a hate crime based on reports of the shooter making racist comments before he shot at the two men.
Local and federal investigators will work together, they say, to combine information from the crime scene to prove who shot the men with background information the FBI can gather to determine if he acted with some type of malice.
Members of the Indian foreign ministry were traveling to Kansas City to meet with Kuchibhotla’s wife and offer any assistance, as well as receive updates on the investigation into the shooting.
Purinton has been charged with one count of premeditated murder and two counts of attempted premeditated murder, and is being held in Henry County, Mo., on $2 million bail. On Thursday, he waived extradition and will be moved to Johnson County, Kan., at some point in the near future.
