Kansas tries to heal after Indian techie’s killing | World News - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Kansas tries to heal after Indian techie’s killing

Olathe (Kansas) | ByAP
Feb 25, 2017 10:25 PM IST

The shooting at a bar in the suburb of Olathe in Kansas has stoked fears about the treatment of immigrants, who feel targeted by President Donald Trump’s promises to ban certain travellers.

In the middle of a crowded bar, Adam Purinton yelled at two Indian men to “get out of my country”, then opened fire in an attack that killed one of the men and wounded the other, as well as a third man who tried to help. Hours later, the 51-year-old former air traffic controller reportedly told a bartender in another town that he needed a place to hide because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla (right) poses with his wife Sunayana Dumala in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kuchibhotla was shot at a bar in Olathe.(AP File)
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (right) poses with his wife Sunayana Dumala in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kuchibhotla was shot at a bar in Olathe.(AP File)

The shooting swiftly stoked fears about the treatment of immigrants, who feel targeted by President Donald Trump’s promises to ban certain travellers.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The widow of the slain man Srinivas Kuchibhotla said he came to the US in 2005 to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Texas at El Paso and worked in Iowa for six years before moving to the Kansas City area.

“He did not deserve a death like this,” Sunayana Dumala said on Friday at a news conference organised by her husband’s employer, the GPS device-maker Garmin. “I don’t know what to say. We’ve read many times in newspapers of some kind of shooting happening somewhere. I was always concerned, ‘Are we doing the right thing staying in the US or America?’ But he always assured me good things happen in America.”

Sunayana Dumala speaks about her late husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, at a news conference in Olathe. (AP)
Sunayana Dumala speaks about her late husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, at a news conference in Olathe. (AP)

Though she did not mention Trump by name, she directed anger at the US government, asking what officials would do to stop hate crimes. “Not everyone will be harmful to this country,” she said.

Purinton was jailed on murder and attempted murder charges. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

A bartender at Austins Bar and Grill in the suburb of Olathe said Purinton used racial slurs before firing. He was taken into custody about five hours later after speaking with another bartender at an Applebee’s some 70 miles away in Clinton, Missouri.

Adam Purinton was held for the shooting at the bar in Olathe. (REUTERS)
Adam Purinton was held for the shooting at the bar in Olathe. (REUTERS)

The Kansas City Star reported Purinton’s comments to the second bartender. The paper did not cite its sources.

The other men who were shot at were identified as 32-year-old Alok Madasani, who was released from the hospital on Thursday, and 24-year-old Ian Grillot, who remained hospitalised.

In a phone interview with The New York Times, Madasani described the remarks made by the man sitting near him and Kuchibhotla on the restaurant’s patio. “He asked us what visa are we currently on and whether we are staying here illegally,” Madasani said. Both men were educated in the US and were working here legally.

“We didn’t react,” Madasani said. “People do stupid things all the time. This guy took it to the next level.”

Madasani said he went in to get a manager, and by the time he returned to the patio, the man was being escorted out.

A small memorial for Srinivas Kuchibhotla outside Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. (AP)
A small memorial for Srinivas Kuchibhotla outside Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. (AP)

Authorities allege that Purinton returned a short time later and shot Madasani, Kuchibhotla and Grillot, who had intervened.

Beverly Morris, who has lived next door to Purinton in Olathe for about 20 years, said he never made her feel unsafe. “He seemed like a good guy,” Morris said, but “anybody who knew him knew he had a drinking problem.”

Another neighbor, Michael Shimeall, told The Star that Purinton seemed friendly and never showed a temper “or anything like that”.

He recalled that Purinton was helpful with neighbours when they had to dig out after snowstorms or pick up a tree blown down by wind. He said Purinton had photos of the ships he served on in the Navy and other Navy items in his home.

FAA records from the 1990s indicate that Purinton was a pilot and was licensed to work in an airport control tower. Agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory says Purinton left the FAA 17 years ago in 2000.

At the time of the attack, bar patrons were watching a college basketball game on television. When Purinton began harassing the two men, Grillot “stood up for them,” bartender Garret Bohnen told The Star.

As the gunfire began, Grillot hid under a table until nine shots had been fired. Believing the suspect’s magazine was empty, he chased the gunman in hopes of subduing him.

Parents of Srinivas Kuchibhotla mourn his death in Hyderabad. (PTI)
Parents of Srinivas Kuchibhotla mourn his death in Hyderabad. (PTI)

A bullet went through his right hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery but fracturing a vertebra in Grillot’s neck.

“Another half inch, I could be dead or never walk again,” he said from his hospital bed in a video from the University of Kansas Health System.

He did not describe what led to the shooting, saying only that he felt compelled to intervene to help others. “I was just doing what anyone should have done for another human being,” he said.

About 60 children were playing at a church across the street from the bar when the shooting happened. Jeramie Albin, a volunteer for the youth programme at First Baptist Church, said he didn’t think much about a noise that sounded like “somebody dropped a bunch of books”.

Then he learned about the shooting.

The church immediately went into lockdown. Volunteers herded children into the church basement, careful not to scare them, while police officers arrived on the scene. For the next 20 minutes, volunteers led songs to distract the children from police lights outside and helicopters overhead.

Unlock a world of Benefits with HT! From insightful newsletters to real-time news alerts and a personalized news feed – it's all here, just a click away! - Login Now!

Get Latest World News along with Latest News from India at Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On