March 5 (UPI) — The shooting of a Sikh man in Washington state is being investigated as a possible hate crime, local police and the FBI have confirmed.
The unidentified victim — who is a U.S. citizen originally from India’s Punjab province — was shot in the arm and lost consciousness after a confrontation with a gunman in the driveway of the victim’s Kent home Friday, CNN reported.
The assailant allegedly told the man, “Go home to your country,” before he pushed him to the ground and shot him.
NBC News said the 39-year-old victim had been working on a vehicle in his driveway at around 8 p.m. when he was attacked.
He reportedly was released from the hospital Saturday and is expected to make a full recovery.
“We’re early on in our investigation and the shot resulted in non life-threatening injuries, however we are treating this as a very serious incident,” Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas said in a news conference broadcast by KIRO, a CNN affiliate.
“To think that this could happen in our community was very surprising and extremely disappointing,” Thomas said. “This is the first incident of this magnitude that I’m aware of in the city of Kent.
The FBI’s Seattle office said it is also on the case.
“The FBI remains committed​ to investigating c​rimes that are potentially hate-motivated and we continue to work with all our community partners in the Seattle area,” a representative said in a statement.
