The Justice Department announced Friday that Adam Purinton, of Olathe, Kansas, was indicted by a federal grand jury.
The indictment accuses Purinton of shooting and killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla because of Kuchibhotla’s “actual and perceived” race, color, religion and national origin.
The indictment also accuses Purinton of attempting to kill Alok Madasani because of his “actual and perceived” race, color, religion and national origin. Witnesses said Purinton yelled at the two Indian men to “get out of my country” just before the attack, believing they were from Iran. After the shooting, Purinton drove to an Applebee’s restaurant in Clinton, Missouri, where he allegedly told a bartender he “…shot and killed two Iranian people in Olathe.”
Purinton is jailed in Johnson County, Kansas, on $2 million bond on murder and attempted murder charges. His public defender, Michael McCulloch, did not immediately return a message seeking comment
The indictment alleges that Purinton committed the offenses after substantial planning and premeditation, attempted to kill more than one person in a single criminal episode, and knowingly created a grave risk of death to others on the scene.
An affidavit released in March said Madasani told detectives that the gunman asked if their “status was legal” before he opened fire.
The statute authorizes a maximum penalty of death or life in prison. The Justice Department will determine at a later date whether to seek the death penalty.
(Staff and wire reports)