Widow of man killed at Austins in Olathe makes New Year’s plea to embrace diversity

The widow of an Indian man gunned down at an Olathe bar in February issued a plea on New Year’s Day for people to “embrace diversity in race, culture and religion.”

Sunayana Dumala’s husband, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed Feb. 22 in Austins Bar & Grill. A man, Adam Purinton, is charged with first-degree murder in the case. He reportedly yelled, “Get out of my country!” before opening fire.

Kuchibhotla’s friend and co-worker at Garmin, Alok Madasani, and another patron at the bar, Ian Grillot, were hospitalized with bullet wounds.

Dumala posted a message on Facebook on Monday lamenting the death of her husband and thanking her family and friends “who stood by me in one of the darkest phases of life and helping me recuperate from the loss.”

And Dumala made a general plea:

“I am committed in my mission of spreading the message and to save others going through same pain,” she wrote. “I need all your support too, so I urge all my friends and well-wishers to add one more resolution to your 2018 list and that is too (sic ) take some time to understand and embrace diversity in race, culture and religion. It is in our hands to make our society safe and secure for our future generations and create a fearless world. Please, make this as one of your priorities and work towards it as even though we know life is uncertain we are never prepared for that uncertainty.”

The Kansas City Star’s coverage of the shooting, its aftermath and the criminal case continues.

In December, Time magazine named Grillot, who intervened in the attack, as one of “5 Heroes Who Gave Us Hope in 2017.”

This story was originally published January 2, 2018 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Widow of man killed at Austins in Olathe makes New Year’s plea to embrace diversity."