Kansas Shooter 'Said He Killed 2 Middle Eastern Men'
They were actually from India, and one is dead
By Arden Dier, Newser Staff
newser.com
(NEWSER) – Five hours after allegedly shooting two Kansas bar patrons from India, Adam Purinton walked into an Applebee's in Missouri and told a bartender he'd just killed two Middle Eastern men and needed a place to hide out, the Kansas City Star reports, based on witness accounts. That bartender called police, who arrested Purinton, 51, shortly after midnight Thursday and charged him with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Police say Purinton opened fire on Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, both 32, at a bar in Olathe, Kan., on Wednesday, killing Kuchibhotla. He allegedly yelled, "Get out of my country." A third man, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, says he was shot in the chest and hand as he tried to subdue the shooter.
Purinton—described by neighbors as a recluse and alcoholic, per KSHB—had earlier been kicked out of the bar in Olathe for shouting racial slurs at Kuchibhotla and Madasani, both Garmin engineers, but returned with a gun and opened fire, witnesses say. In a video released by a hospital, Grillot says he initially hid under a table but tried to subdue the shooter after nine shots were fired. "I didn't want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else," he says. "I was told I was incredibly lucky" to have survived. He adds it was "the greatest thing" when Madasani, released from a hospital on Thursday, came to visit him. Purinton, meanwhile, awaits extradition to Kansas. Police say he could face additional charges as they investigate whether the shooting constitutes a hate crime. |
