A Kansas man pleaded guilty in state court Tuesday to killing a engineer from India and injuring two others at a sports bar in February 2017.
Witnesses told Kansas media that Adam Purinton yelled, “Get out of my country,” before shooting Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe.
Both men were originally from India. They worked as engineers at Garmin, a tech company that makes GPS devices.
Kuchibhotla died and Madasani was injured. Ian Grillot was shot and injured as he tried to intervene.
The shooting made headlines in India and raised concerns in Indian communities about possible violence against foreign workers in the United States.
Purinton, 52, waived his right to a jury trial in Johnson County District Court, District Attorney Kristi Bergeron said.
He pleaded guilty to one count of premeditated first-degree murder in Kuchibhotla’s death and two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder in the shootings of Madasani and Grillot, officials said.
Purinton’s sentencing is scheduled for May 4.
He faces additional hate crime charges in federal court. As part of his plea with Johnson County prosecutors, the parties agreed to a maximum sentence on each count that will run consecutive to each other and to any sentence that may be imposed in his federal case.
Kuchibhotla’s widow said the plea “will send a strong message that hate is never acceptable. We must understand and love one another,” CNN affiliate KCTV reported. Sunayana Dumala called for a walk Friday in his memory.