Kansas shooting raises fears with local Indian-Americans

The shooting death of an Indian engineer and the wounding of another man in a possible hate crime at a Kansas bar has raised fears among members of the area’s fast-growing Indian-American community.

The suspected gunman, US Navy veteran Adam Purinton, 51, has been charged with the premeditated murder in Olathe, just outside Kansas City, of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and the attempted murder of Alok Madasani, also 32, as well as an American who tried to intervene.

Before opening fire, Purinton is accused of shouting “get out of my country,” a bystander told the Kansas City Star.

Several members of the Kansas City area’s Indian-American community said the attack had forced them to think about their safety.

“The main reaction is shock, because this is home,” said Samarpita Bajpai, 45, who lives in suburban Overland Park and runs a non-profit Indian dance company.

Going forward, Bajpai said that for the first time in her nearly 20 years living in the Kansas City area she will try to refrain from being out late at night.

She said the local area had always been very welcoming. Through her Gurukul Dance Company, Bajpai tours US cities with a troupe of 10 dancers, all of whom except her are white people with an affinity for Indian culture, she said.