An Indian engineer was killed in a shooting in a Kansas City bar on Wednesday, an attack that some eyewitnesses said could be racially motivated. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at a hospital and his colleague, also an Indian, sustained bullet injuries after a white man opened fire in the crowded suburban bar. Adam Purinton, 51, the alleged shooter, thought they were Middle Easterners and was heard telling them to “get out of my country” at the time of the shooting. He was charged with murder and attempted murder on Thursday.
Here’s what we know about the incident:
Kuchibhotla is possibly the first casualty of the religious, racial and ethnic divisiveness that has swept the US following the election of President Donald Trump, with minorities such as Jews and Muslims reporting a surge in attacks on them and their institutions.
“The murder of Kuchibhotla is the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the United States after the bitter Presidential election,” according to the Hindu American Foundation.
Kuchibhotla was employed with the Garmin headquarters in Olathe. His colleague, Alok Madasani, was with him at the bar when they came under fire. Ian Grillot, a white man, was also injured in the shooting and reportedly put his life in risk to save the Indians.
Originally from Hyderabad, Kuchibhotla was a B. Tech in electrical and electronics engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He had a master’s degree from the University of Texas, El Paso. Madasani graduated from Vasavi College of Engineering in 2006, and came to the US as a Master’s student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife Sunayana, according to a GoFundMe page. The couple had no children.
http://m.hindustantimes.com/india-n...know-so-far/story-3RTUjXWK9UsNENjiMA9RbK.html
