Relatives Mourn Indian Engineer Slain In U.S. After Being Mistaken As Iranian
Hundreds of grieving relatives and friends of a 32-year-old engineer from Hyderabad, India, have been mourning his death after he was murdered in an apparently racially motivated shooting in the U.S. state of Kansas.
The slain GPS specialist, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was cremated in Hyderabad on February 28.
Kuchibhotla -- who was studying in the United States and working for the GPS firm Garmin -- was shot dead at a crowded bar in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, on February 22.
A bartender told police the shooter mistook Kuchibhotla for an Iranian and confronted him.
Witnesses said the shooter yelled "get out of my country" before he shot Kuchibhotla dead and wounded another bar patron.
A suspect from Olathe, Kansas, identified as Adam Purinton, was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder.
The FBI said it was investigating Kuchibhotla's killing and the wounding of his Indian-born co-worker as "hate crimes."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the shootings appeared to be "acts of racially motivated hatred" and President Donald Trump "condemns these or any other racially or religiously motivated attacks in the strongest terms."
An Indian External Affairs Ministry statement said that U.S. authorities "have proactively responded” to Kuchibhotla’s death.
