Man who 'shouted "Get out of my country" before he killed an Indian man in Kansas bar shooting' is indicted on federal hate crime charges

[desiboys]

A man accused of fatally shooting an Indian man after yelling 'get out of my country' has been indicted on hate crime charges, the US Justice Department announced.

Adam Purinton, 52, was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury on two hate crime charges and a firearm charge after a February 22 shooting at Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas that killed 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

Purinton, who is white, yelled 'get out of my country' at Kuchibhotla and another Indian national Alok Madasani, before he opened fire, witnesses said. 

Kuchibhotla died and Madasani was injured. A third man, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he tried to intervene.

The indictment Friday alleges Purinton shot the two Indian men because of their 'actual and perceived' race, color, religion and national origin.

Purinton could face the death penalty if he is convicted of the federal charges, although prosecutors said it would decide later on whether to pursue it.

 

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 Adam Purinton, 52, (pictured on May 15) was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury on two hate crime charges and a firearm charge after a February 22 shooting

 

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Purinton yelled 'get out of my country' at Indian nationals Srinivas Kuchibhotla (left) and Alok Madasani (right), before he opened fire, witnesses said. Kuchibhotla died in the shooting

 

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 The indictment Friday alleges Purinton shot the two Indian men because of their 'actual and perceived' race, color, religion and national origin. Pictured, Kuchibhotla (left, with his wife Sunayana Dumala on the right) and Madasani (center)

Kuchibhotla and Madasani, who came to the U.S. from India to study, both worked as engineers at the GPS-maker Garmin.

The friends were having a drink at the bar when Purinton yelled 'get out of my country', according to a witnesses. 

Madasani also told detectives that the gunman asked if their 'status was legal' before he opened fire, according to an affidavit released in March. 

Purinton was thrown out of the bar before he returned and opened fire, police said.  

Kuchibhotla died at an area hospital and Madasani and Grillot were treated for their wounds.

 

 

After the shooting, Purinton drove 70 miles east to an Applebee's restaurant in Clinton, Missouri, where he allegedly admitted the shootings to a bartender, who called police. 

 

The indictment on Friday alleges Purinton committed the crimes after premeditation and planning, attempted to kill more than one person and created a grave risk of death to others at the scene. 

Purinton is jailed in Johnson County, Kansas, on $2 million bond on murder and attempted murder charges.

His public defender, Michael McCulloch, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.