By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI said it’s now investigating a Kansas shooting as a hate crime after a Indian man was killed and another injured at a Kansas bar, the bureau said Tuesday.
Witnesses said the accused gunman shot the men after telling them to “get out of my country.”
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, died in the attack. Alok Madasani, 32, was released from the hospital a day after last week’s attack.
Adam W. Purinton, 51, has been charged in the shooting in Olathe, about 20 miles southwest of Kansas City. It appears Purinton thought the men were Iranian, according to a 911 call, the Washington Post reports.
He now faces potential hate crime charges by the feds.
“Based upon the initial investigative activity, the FBI, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, is investigating this incident as a hate crime,” an FBI spokeswoman said in a statement. “The FBI will continue to work jointly with Olathe Police Department and our state and local partners regarding this ongoing investigation.”
