Adam Purinton: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Adam Purinton mug shot (Henry County Jail)

A man reportedly walked into a bar in Olathe, Kansas and opened fire after shouting racial slurs, killing at least one and injuring two the evening of February 22.

The suspect is 51-year-old Adam Purinton of Olathe. He allegedly opened fire and shot the three patrons at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe. A motive is not yet known at this time, though witness accounts say he got into a confrontation with other customers after he said racial remarks.

Olathe Police said that the FBI will investigate the situation if it’s proven that the shooting was a result of a hate crime.

Of the three victims, one is dead, one remains in critical condition while one is listed as being “stable.”

Purinton is listed as booked in the Henry County Jail at 9:58 a.m. on February 23. He was reportedly charged with first-degree murder and remains at the jail on $100,000 bond.

Another report from NBC Action News 41, said that the Olathe Police Department and Johnson County DA charged Purinton with premeditated murder.

Police also said the the FBI

First reports to officials said that Purinton was wearing a black-and-white scarf over his head at the time of the shooting. Listen to the audio of the police scanner in Olathe below:

Police responded to initial reports of an active shooter at the bar and noted that the suspect had fled the scene into a neighborhood nearby. Responding units surrounded his home in Olathe, but came up empty. Purinton was apprehended in a Missouri bar hours later.

Here’s what you need to know about Purinton and the shooting:

1. Purinton Allegedly Said Racial Remarks Before Shooting

According to a report, multiple people on the scene said that the man, believed to be Purinton, was saying racial slurs inside the bar and was asked to leave. He reportedly came back with a gun.

A later report said that two of the three victims in the shooting were of Indian descent and Purinton was overheard making remarks about their race before he shot them.

Witnesses said that a confrontation started in the bar when Purinton made slurs and a man at the establishment “stood up to him.”

The Kansas City Star reported that two of the victims in the shooting are employees at the Aviation Systems Engineering department for Garmin, headquartered in Olath. Their names are Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani. Kuchibhotla is the fatal victim in the shooting and Madasani was injured.

The company released a statement February 23 that said:

We’re saddened that two Garmin associates were involved in last night’s incident, and we express our condolences to the family and friends of our co-workers involved. Garmin will have grievance counselors on-site and available for its associates today and tomorrow.

The man who allegedly “stood up” for the two men and remains injured as a result of the shooting is Ian Grillot. His sister, Maggie, set up a Go Fund Me page for to raise money for his injuries. In the description, she said her brother “thought all rounds were done and tried to go after the man.” But Purinton still had rounds left and shot Grillot.

Despite the reports online, a confirmed motive is unknown at this time.

2. Purinton Is Employed at a Kansas City Business

According to his LinkedIn Page, Purinton is a desktop support specialist for GEN3RATION, an information technology company in the Kansas City area.

GEN3RATION’s website says that the company employs about 50 people and works to “eliminate problem areas by providing full-service IT monitoring, proactive maintenance, and a help desk solution for your company.”

3. Witnesses & Scanner Traffic Indicated Purinton Is a Military Veteran

Kansas City Star Managing Editor Greg Farmer reported that Purinton’s neighbors told him that he is a military veteran who suffers from PTSD. He added that neighbors believed he had just been diagnosed with a “serious illness.”

Chatter over the police scanner while Olathe Police pursued the suspect said that he drove a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the vehicle’s license-plate tags were veteran tags.

4. Purinton Was Apprehended At a Missouri Applebee’s

A manhunt was on for Purinton after reports said he fled the scene. Police closed in on a home in a nearby neighborhood believed to be Purintons, and SWAT teams and officers in camouflage gear were seen responding to the scene. However, it turned out that Purinton wasn’t there after all.

Instead, he was at an Applebee’s in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe, the Kansas City Star reported.

Assistant Clinton Police Chief Sonny Lynch said that a bartender at the restaurant called police after a man at the bar spoke about being involved in a shooting. The Kansas City Star reported that Purinton told the bartender that “he had killed two Middle Eastern Men.”

Police took Purinton into custody “without incident,” and he wasn’t armed when arrested.

The alleged suspect was reported as being seen running west near 151st Terrace and Scarborough Street.

5. Purinton Was Described As a ‘Disgruntled Customer’

Firsthand accounts from witnesses label Purinton as a “disgruntled customer” who entered Austins, a sports bar, during the Kansas Jayhawks’ victory against TCU February 22. The bar was filled with local college basketball fans taking in the game.

Witness accounts flooded social media, with one man writing on Twitter that his mother saw one of the victims being shot at a close distance.

NBC 41 Action News reported that the first shots were fired around 7:15 p.m. February 22 and was initially described as a “disgruntled customer.”

This post will be updated.

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