Shooting
[Representational image]Creative Commons

On Wednesday night, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 32-year-old engineer from Hyderabad, was killed in an alleged hate crime when an American man shot him at a bar in Kansas City, US.

Kansas shooting: Indian engineer killed, 2 others injured in 'racial attack' in suburban Olathe bar

Two others were also injured during the shooting, including another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani. Ian Gallot, 24 was injured when he tried to defend the two Indians.

The incident took place at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, the fourth largest city in Kansas. Kuchibhotla and Madasani, were catching up over a drink after work at the neighbourhood bar when a 51-year-old navy veteran started hurling racial slurs at them. Adam Purinton reportedly called them "middle-easterns" and shouted "get out of my country" before opening fire.

Kuchibhotla died on the spot, and Purinton fled the scene. Five hours later, the accused was caught in Missouri where he had reportedly told a bartender that he had shot two middle-eastern men.

The police were alerted by the bartender and Purinton has now been charged for first-degree murder and premeditated attempted murder.

Since the shooting, Twitter has been flooded with tweets expressing disgust and anger.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj also tweeted her condolences for the victim's family.

While some have directed their tweets at racial discrimination, others have questioned the safety in Kansas and the safety under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Few have also taken up the incident as an example of white male terrorism.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been set up to collect money to fly Kuchibhotla's body to India. The page has already raised $200,000.

 
Also Read