iStock/Thinkstock(OLATHE, Kan.) — Authorities are investigating whether a triple shooting at a Kansas bar, which resulted in one death, was a hate crime.
On Wednesday evening, police responded to a 911 call of shots fired at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe, located about 20 miles southwest of Kansas City, said Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke.
The suspect, Adam W. Purinton, was arrested in the early morning hours on Thursday in Clinton, Missouri and is being held on $2 million bond, said Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe. Purinton had fled the scene of the shooting, according to Menke.
Authorities said the perpetrator of the attack shot Alok Madasani and Srinivas Kuchibhotla, both 32, and 24-year-old Ian Grillot.
All three victims were taken to a local hospital, where Kuchibhotla died, Menke said, adding that authorities have been in contact with all of the victim’s families. The other two victims are in stable condition, Menke said.
Kuchibhotla worked as an engineer at Garmin.
“I am very disturbed by last night’s shooting in Olathe,” read a statement from Kansas Senator Jerry Moran. “I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia.”
Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that after the shooting started, he took cover until he thought the shooter’s magazine was empty.
“I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him,” Grillot said in a video posted online by the University of Kansas Health System. “I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me.”
Grillot said he was hit in the hand and the chest, and that a bullet narrowly missed a major artery.
“I was told I was incredibly lucky for what happened to me,” Grillot said. “I could have never walked again or seen my family again.”
Purington has been charged with one count of premeditated murder and two counts of premeditated attempted murder, Howe said. It will be up to Clinton County to decide whether to waive extradition, he added.
Howe would not disclose the type of weapon used in the attack, which he described as a “pretty traumatic event in a very open, public situation.”
It is unclear if Purington has retained a lawyer.
The FBI is investigating whether the shooting was a bias crime, said Kansas City FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson. Local police will also aid in the investigation into whether the shooting was racially motivated.
Jackson FBI personnel are working the investigation into the shooting “from every angle to determine that the true facts are.”
Authorities were unable to provide further details in the case, which is still under investigation.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Howe said.
Howe said the community around Olathe bonded together after a similar incident three years ago.
“In these tragic instances, often the community bonds together,” Howe said. “I think we’ll see this again. I’m very proud of this community.”
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