Gunman uttered racial slurs and yelled, “get out of my country”
Washington, DC: US-India Political Action Committee has strongly condemned the killing of Indian engineer by an American navy veteran in an apparent hate crime in Kansas City, calling it “heinous” and “barbaric”. USINPAC stands together with the victims’ families at their time of distress and has extended all possible assistance to help them recover from this unfortunate incident.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 32-year-old Indian engineer working in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd, died of bullet injuries at a hospital after he was shot by the navy veteran yelling “get out of my country” and “terrorist” at a bar on Wednesday night in Kansas City in the state of Missouri. His colleague, Alok Madasani, an Indian engineer from Hyderabad was critically injured when the 51-year-old veteran opened fire on them. A third person, Ian Grillot, an American who tried to intervene was also shot but survived.
“My thoughts are with the victims and families shaken by the shooting in Kansas. Senseless acts of violence have no place in our country. I’m heartbroken by this tragedy,” said Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Calling this as a senseless act of violence in Kansas City, Congressman Ro Khanna remarked, “Any act of violence fuelled by hatred and xenophobia and prejudice cannot be tolerated. I have faith in local and federal law enforcement to justly investigate this shooting as a hate crime,”
Expressing shock over the killing, USINPAC Chairman Sanjay Puri said, ” We strongly condemn the killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla. We have reached out the Department of Justice and asked for quick action on these and other such hate crimes around the country. This incident needs to be treated as a hate crime. We continue to monitor this situation along with other racially motivated incidents around the country.”
About USINPAC
The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) is the voice of over 3.2 million Indian- Americans and works on issues that concern the community. It supports candidates for local, state and federal office and encourages political participation by the Indian- American community. Visit www.usinpac.com for more details.