On February 22, 2017, Adam Purinton shot two

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, whom he had allegedly mistaken for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ians, at a restaurant in

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 population of 141,290. History 19th century Olathe wa ...

, killing Kuchibhotla. He reportedly yelled "get out of my country" and "

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

" before firing. A third man, Ian Grillot, was wounded after he came to the two men's aid. Several hours later, Purinton was arrested in

Clinton, Missouri Clinton is a city in Henry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,792 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Henry County. History Clinton was laid out in 1836. The city was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, ...

Incident

According to witness accounts, the incident, at Austin's Bar and Grill at Mur-Len Shop on 151st St. and Mur-Len Rd., began as patrons were watching a basketball game; a man started yelling

racial slurs The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or ot ...

at the victims, asking them whether their " status was legal". The man had been escorted from the premises after he was confronted by restaurant staff and other guests, but returned later with a gun and began firing. He reportedly told the two targeted victims—South Indian men who work for

Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquarte ...

, a technology firm—to "get out of my country" before firing. Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old white American, was shot and suffered multiple bullet wounds as he came to the victims' aid. The suspect, Adam Purinton, was arrested while drinking at a restaurant bar in

, about away. He had attracted the barman's attention by saying he needed a place to hide because he had just killed one

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern man and injured another.

The perpetrator

Adam Purinton, 51, was arrested for the killing. After fleeing the bar, he was pursued by police in the Kansas City area who also went to his home. He eluded them, but was arrested after he was said to have admitted to "killing two Middle Eastern men" at a bar to which he had fled, 82 miles from the scene of the crimes. Purinton was said to have been a drinker whose alcohol consumption increased and whose behavior rapidly deteriorated after his father died from pancreatic cancer, 18 months before the crimes. Prior to his arrest, he had recently held a series of unskilled jobs including in hardware and liquor stores and as a dishwasher in a pizza parlor. He is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

veteran, had been an air traffic controller, and previously worked in information technology.Kansas community tries to heal after racially motivated shooting
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', John Hanna & John Suhr (AP), February 25, 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.

Legal proceedings

Purinton was charged with one count of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially t ...

and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. He was held in the Johnson County jail, with his bond set at $2 million. He faced a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 50 years. His preliminary hearing was initially scheduled for September 18; then postponed to January 2018. In November Purinton waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was arraigned on one count of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, initially entering a not guilty plea. Purinton later pleaded guilty to the state charges of murder and attempted murder on March 6, 2018. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility for parole for the murder on May 4, 2018. Purinton later pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges, thereby avoiding a death sentence, and received three consecutive life in prison sentences. As of January 2024, Purinton is incarcerated at Hutchinson Correctional Facility in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 ...

Reactions

Sushma Swaraj Sushma Swaraj () (''née'' Sharma; 14 February 1952 – 6 August 2019) was an Indian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. She is only ...

, India's

Foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

, said on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that "I am shocked", and that she would help the family to bring the victim's body back to Hyderabad. Garmin later issued a public statement about the incident: "We’re saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in heincident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow." The families of victims have blamed the policies of U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, for the incident. When asked by reporters whether "rhetoric that the President or—that generally has been out here recently could have contributed in any way", White House press secretary

Sean Spicer Sean Michael Spicer (born September 23, 1971) is a former American political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications dire ...

stated, "I mean, obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I'm not going to get into, like, that kind of—to suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that. The incident was condemned by several American lawmakers and civil rights groups. US Senator

Jerry Moran Gerald Wesley Moran ( ; born May 29, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Kansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was chair of the National Republican Senator ...

of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook about the shooting, expressing concern for the safety of other immigrants. Later President Trump, who condemned the attack at the beginning of his address to a

joint session of Congress A joint session of the United States Congress is a gathering of members of the two chambers of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Joint sessions can be held ...

said that "Recent threats ( ... ), as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms". Kansas Governor

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

signed a proclamation to honor the three victims of the shooting and declared March 16 as Indian American Appreciation day. Members of India House Houston later raised $100,000 to honor the white American who came to the aid of the victims. He was also honored by the Asian Culture Association for heroism. The victim Kuchibhotla's widow, Sunayana Dumala, faced deportation since her visa was tied to that of her husband's H-1B temporary highly skilled worker visa status. In January 2018, she received an H-1B temporary visa of her own.The Devastating Olathe, Kansas Hate Crime Shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in 2017
''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.

References

External links