51-year-old Kansas man Adam Purinton has been charged with murder after a shooting that killed one man and left two others wounded, NPR reports.
The shooting took place inside a crowded Kansas City bar. Minutes before the shooting, Purinton reportedly yelled“get out of my country.” According to The New York Times, a bartender at the restaurant where Purinton was later captured said he heard him say that he had killed two Middle Eastern men.
Two Indian, not Middle Eastern, engineers were shot—Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, who both worked at Garmin. Another American man, Ian Grillot, was also injured in the shooting—his family said he was trying to stand up for the victims, as reported by BuzzFeed News.
Kuchibhotla, 32, died at the hospital, the Kansas City Star reported. Madasani was released from the hospital, the same one that Grillot is still recovering at, on Thursday. A GoFundMe page has been created to help the victims and has already raised over $420,000. “Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone,” wrote his family. “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.” Funds have also been set up to cover Madasani’s and Grillot's medical bills.
NPR reported that the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office have joined the investigation as they collectively work to decide if the shooting was a hate crime. “It was a tragic and senseless act of violence,” Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told the Kansas City Star.
According to BuzzFeed News, Purinton was taken into custody and has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.