Kansas shooting: Adam Purinton pleads guilty to hate crime
- Published
Eyewitness and friend Alok Madasani, and widow Sunayana Kutchibhotla spoke to Rajini Vaidyanathan
A man who shot dead a tech worker from India has pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges.
Adam Purinton, 52, killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounded Alok Madasani at a bar in the Kansas city of Olathe in February last year.
Purinton called the men "terrorists" and yelled "Get out of my country!", before proceeding with the shooting.
He has already been jailed for 50 years without parole on state murder charges.
The attack drew worldwide condemnation and shocked the Indian-US community.
Federal prosecutors said Purinton targeted the two Indian nationals "because of their actual and perceived race, colour, religion and national origin".
Mr Kuchibhotla and his wife came to the US in pursuit of a better life
The prosecution and defence teams jointly requested a sentence of life imprisonment without parole on hate crimes charges for Purinton.
He said he fired on the two men, who worked as engineers at GPS-maker Garmin, because he thought they were Iranian.
Witnesses said he inquired if their status in the US was legal before shouting "Get out of my country".
Purinton then went home, picked up one of his guns and returned to the bar, opening fire on the men.
A third man, 24-year-old Ian Grillot was wounded having tried to intervene.
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