KANSAS CITY/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A white U.S. Navy veteran has been charged with killing an engineer from India and wounding two other men when he opened fire in a Kansas bar in what federal authorities were investigating on Friday as a possible hate crime that shocked the victim’s home country.
The shooting on Wednesday night led news bulletins in India and triggered outrage on social media, where people voiced concern that U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” position on immigration and jobs has fueled a climate of intolerance.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday that any loss of life was tragic, but it would be absurd to link the killing to Trump’s rhetoric.
Pratik Mathur, spokesman for the Indian embassy in Washington, said India had expressed “our deep concern over the incident” to the U.S. government and requested a “thorough and speedy investigation.”
Adam Purinton, 51, was charged on Thursday in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder, District Attorney Stephen Howe told reporters.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking at whether it was a hate crime, the official term for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice.
If convicted of the state murder charges, Purinton faces a life sentence without eligibility for parole for 50 years, Howe said.