Gov. Sam Brownback meets with Indian diplomat after Olathe shooting

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback met with India’s consul general Thursday after an Indian engineer was shot and killed in Olathe last week.

Brownback posted a photo of himself on Twitter Thursday afternoon with Anupam Ray, consul general of India’s Houston consulate, which serves Kansas and seven other states.

“The hateful actions of one man don’t define us-KS welcomes & supports Indian community,” Brownback said in the tweet.

A gunman fatally shot Srinivas Kuchibhotla and wounded Alok Madasani, another Indian national, reportedly because he thought they were Middle Eastern. Another man, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he tried to stop the gunman.

Adam W. Purinton of Olathe has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. The FBI is investigating the shootings as a hate crime.

In his own tweet, Ray called Kansas “accepting & desirous of Indian community” and promised that the shooting would “be prosecuted to fullest extent of law.”

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer also attended the meeting, which took place in Brownback’s Topeka office, based on the photos. Brownback’s office did not announce the meeting before it happened and did not immediately provide details of the discussion.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Gov. Sam Brownback meets with Indian diplomat after Olathe shooting."