Kansas man pleads guilty to murdering an Indian engineer after yelling, 'get out of my country'

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AlexStar/iStock/Thinkstock(OLATHE, Ks.) — A Kansas man charged with killing a man of Indian descent and wounding another in a bar shooting last year has pleaded guilty to premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated murder, court documents confirm.

Adam Purinton, who is a white man, is accused of yelling, “get out of my country” before shooting two Indian nationals named Srinivas Kuchibholta and Alok Madasani at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas, in February 2017, according to previously filed court documents.

Kuchibhotla died in the shooting and Madasani was injured. Another man named Ian Grillot was wounded when he tried to intervene.

Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked as engineers at GPS-maker Garmin and had stopped at the bar for an after-work drink when the incident occurred.

The shooting, unfolding shortly after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, underscored fears shared privately by immigrants that Trump’s “America First” agenda would herald a new era of hostility toward foreigners, according to the New York Times. The White House press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, rejected any link between Trump’s policies and the shooting. The American Chargé d’Affaires MaryKay Carlson in India issued a statement condemning what she called a “tragic and senseless act.”

Purinton will be sentenced on May 4, according to court documents, and could face life in prison. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is currently deciding if Purinton will face the death penalty in the federal hate crime charges currently against him.

Michael McCulloch, Purinton’s public defender, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

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