OLATHE, Kan. — Prosecutors on Thursday charged a 51-year-old man with murder and attempted murder after he allegedly started shooting in a crowded suburban Kansas City bar, killing one man and injuring two others, in an attack that some witnesses said was racially motivated.
Authorities repeatedly declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although local police said they were working with the FBI to investigate the case.
<figure class="img_half" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 1.125em 1.125em 0px; float: left; width: 275px;">
<figcaption class="img-caption img-caption_default no-margin-bottom" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); max-width: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0.47461em; font-size: 0.79012em; line-height: 1.42383; margin-bottom: 0px !important;">Adam Puritan, of Olathe, Kansas, was arrested early Feb. 23, 2017 Henry County (Mo.) Sheriff's Office via AP</figcaption>
</figure>A bartender at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, said that Adam Purinton used "racial slurs" before he started shooting on Wednesday night as patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at an area hospital, police said. Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24, were hospitalized and are in stable condition, they said. The Linked-in accounts for Kuchibhotla and Madasani say that they were engineers working at GPS-maker Garmin and had studied in India.
Local, county, state and federal law enforcement authorities attended the news conference where the murder charges were announced.
Asked if the presence of federal authorities indicated the shooting could be considered a hate crime, FBI special agent Eric Jackson said it was too early to determine.
"This was a violent crime and we want the best prosecution that relates to this because there are victims of this crime and we want the community to know that ... we're looking to make sure that the individual involved in this is held accountable for his actions."
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Bartender Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star that Kuchibhotla and Madasani stopped at Austins for a drink once or twice a week.
"From what I understand when he was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen (Kuchibhotla and Madasani), Ian (Grillot) stood up for them," Bohnen said. "We're all proud of him."
Witnesses also told the Star that Purinton yelled "get out of my country" before he opened fire.
Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that when the shooting broke out, he hid until nine shots had been fired and he thought the suspect's gun magazine was empty.
"I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him," Grillot said in a video from the University of Kansas Health System posted on the Star website. "I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me."
Grillot said that the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.
"It's not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity," Grillot said. "We're all humans, so I just did what was right to do."
GoFundMe pages were started to help pay expenses for all three of the victims.
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook saying that he was very disturbed by the shooting.
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"I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia," Moran said.
Purinton was taken into custody just after midnight on Thursday morning at an Applebee's about 70 miles to the southeast of Olathe in Clinton, Missouri, authorities said.
Assistant Clinton Police Chief Sonny Lynch said an Applebee's bartender summoned police to the bar where the man was drinking because he said he'd been involved in a shooting. The unarmed Purinton was taken into custody and interviewed by detectives from Olathe.
"He mentioned he had been involved in a shooting and we went out there and picked him up," Lynch said.
The bar where the shooting took place was closed Thursday, with a sign in the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.
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Authorities repeatedly declined at a news conference to say whether the shooting was a hate crime although local police said they were working with the FBI to investigate the case.
<figure class="img_half" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 1.125em 1.125em 0px; float: left; width: 275px;">
<figcaption class="img-caption img-caption_default no-margin-bottom" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); max-width: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0.47461em; font-size: 0.79012em; line-height: 1.42383; margin-bottom: 0px !important;">Adam Puritan, of Olathe, Kansas, was arrested early Feb. 23, 2017 Henry County (Mo.) Sheriff's Office via AP</figcaption></figure>A bartender at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, said that Adam Purinton used "racial slurs" before he started shooting on Wednesday night as patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died at an area hospital, police said. Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24, were hospitalized and are in stable condition, they said. The Linked-in accounts for Kuchibhotla and Madasani say that they were engineers working at GPS-maker Garmin and had studied in India.
Local, county, state and federal law enforcement authorities attended the news conference where the murder charges were announced.
Asked if the presence of federal authorities indicated the shooting could be considered a hate crime, FBI special agent Eric Jackson said it was too early to determine.
"This was a violent crime and we want the best prosecution that relates to this because there are victims of this crime and we want the community to know that ... we're looking to make sure that the individual involved in this is held accountable for his actions."
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Bartender Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star that Kuchibhotla and Madasani stopped at Austins for a drink once or twice a week.
"From what I understand when he was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen (Kuchibhotla and Madasani), Ian (Grillot) stood up for them," Bohnen said. "We're all proud of him."
Witnesses also told the Star that Purinton yelled "get out of my country" before he opened fire.
Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that when the shooting broke out, he hid until nine shots had been fired and he thought the suspect's gun magazine was empty.
"I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him," Grillot said in a video from the University of Kansas Health System posted on the Star website. "I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me."
Grillot said that the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.
"It's not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity," Grillot said. "We're all humans, so I just did what was right to do."
GoFundMe pages were started to help pay expenses for all three of the victims.
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook saying that he was very disturbed by the shooting.
<iframe name="fb_xdm_frame_http" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" id="fb_xdm_frame_http" aria-hidden="true" title="Facebook Cross Domain Communication Frame" tabindex="-1" src="http://staticxx.facebook.com/connect/xd_arbiter/r/ao6eUeuGXQq.js?version=42#channel=f7df0bc830752&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none;"></iframe><iframe name="fb_xdm_frame_https" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" id="fb_xdm_frame_https" aria-hidden="true" title="Facebook Cross Domain Communication Frame" tabindex="-1" src="https://staticxx.facebook.com/connect/xd_arbiter/r/ao6eUeuGXQq.js?version=42#channel=f7df0bc830752&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none;"></iframe>
<iframe name="f213f7750dff47e" height="1000px" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" title="fb
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Purinton was taken into custody just after midnight on Thursday morning at an Applebee's about 70 miles to the southeast of Olathe in Clinton, Missouri, authorities said.
Assistant Clinton Police Chief Sonny Lynch said an Applebee's bartender summoned police to the bar where the man was drinking because he said he'd been involved in a shooting. The unarmed Purinton was taken into custody and interviewed by detectives from Olathe.
"He mentioned he had been involved in a shooting and we went out there and picked him up," Lynch said.
The bar where the shooting took place was closed Thursday, with a sign in the door that said it would remain closed indefinitely.
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"I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him," Grillot said in a video from the University of Kansas Health System posted on the Star website. "I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me."
Grillot said that the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.
"It's not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity," Grillot said. "We're all humans, so I just did what was right to do."
Grillot said that the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.
"It's not about where he (victim) was from or his ethnicity," Grillot said. "We're all humans, so I just did what was right to do."
When you have a POTUS who is openly racist and openly discriminates, it fosters hatred and encourages his followers to become bold in their expression of their hate. Same thing happened in Nazi Germany when Hitler rose to power. His followers openly started to discriminate and attack Jews.
There are exactly 0 examples of Trump being a "racist" nor is there any indication that this man was a Trump follower.
Also, you seem to be completely uncurious about all the attacks on Trump supporters post-election. No comparisons to Nazi's or anything of the like.
You just love showing everyone here how dumb you are every time you post.
Being sued by the US Government for refusing to rent to minorities isn't proof of his racism?
His right-hand man stating on record that Trump said "Laziness is a trait in blacks" isn't proof of his racism?
Being fined $200k for ordering his black casino employees from going anywhere near his white mobster pal isn't proof of his racism?
Signing Executive Orders discriminating against Muslims and Hispanics isn't proof of his racism?
Must've had a bowl of Retardios this morning cause you're full of retard logic.
you guys are being very short sighted.. allot of fine immigrant pussy is being deported
and also the mothers of future hot 2nd generation (or would that be 1st gen?) pussy..
and guys like that fucking loser move to the forefront.. no thanks.. lets do right but our children and grandchildren..
and leave them some foreign 'tang' on the buffet menu of lifes best gift to man of sex with woman.
i was in on trump.. but if this is the way its going, I'm out.. i wish he would focus on the money part of the countries problem and leave the pussy alone.
not everyone can hop on a plane to switzerland and cherry pick.. leave some desperate foreigners that are low hanging fruit for the common man, changing our bed sheets in hotels.. shopping in was mart or wherever your go to spot is for tang.
and also the mothers of future hot 2nd generation (or would that be 1st gen?) pussy..
and guys like that fucking loser move to the forefront.. no thanks.. lets do right but our children and grandchildren..
and leave them some foreign 'tang' on the buffet menu of lifes best gift to man of sex with woman.
i was in on trump.. but if this is the way its going, I'm out.. i wish he would focus on the money part of the countries problem and leave the pussy alone.
not everyone can hop on a plane to switzerland and cherry pick.. leave some desperate foreigners that are low hanging fruit for the common man, changing our bed sheets in hotels.. shopping in was mart or wherever your go to spot is for tang.
"Discriminating against" If Trump "discriminated against" Muslims, why didn't he ban all Muslims from America?
When you have to go with "his right hand man" (something you've completely fabricated) you know you're flailing.
You're just a complete imbecile.
Embarrassing.
