
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The wife of a man who was killed in a shooting at a suburban Kansas City bar said she wonders what the U.S. will do to stop hate crimes against minorities.
Sunayana Dumala spoke at a news conference Friday organized by Garmin, where her husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, worked before he was shot to death Wednesday in an attack at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe that witnesses could have been racially motivated.
Adam Puriton, of Olathe, is charged with premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first degree murder in the attack, which also left two men injured. He has not been charged with a hate crime.
Dumala says she was concerned about shootings in the U.S. and wondered if they should stay in the country, but her husband said “good things happen in America.”
She also said reports of bias in the country make minorities afraid of being in the country. She says she wants an answer to one question — “Do we belong here?”
A bartender at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, said Purinton used “racial slurs” before he started shooting Wednesday night as patrons were watching the University of Kansas-TCU basketball game on television.