Shapiro, Pai React on Twitter to Murder of Garmin Engineer, Wounding of 2 Others

CTA President Gary Shapiro and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai were among those reacting this weekend on Twitter to the shooting last week of two Garmin engineers, both 32 and originally from India, and a bystander in a bar near Garmin’s U.S. headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, in what authorities are calling a possible hate crime (see 1702240066). Srinivas Kuchibhotla died in the shooting and his Garmin colleague, Alok Madasani, was wounded, as was Ian Grillot, 24, the bystander who tried to intervene. “Our hearts go out to family and friends of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the other victims and the entire @Garmin family,” Shapiro tweeted Saturday. "RIP, Srinivas Kuchibotla [sic]," Pai tweeted late Friday. "@Garmin engineer murdered in cold blood in KC was 'simply an outstanding human being.'" The son of immigrants from India, Pai grew up in Parsons, Kansas, about 125 miles southwest of Olathe, his FCC bio page says. Alleged gunman Adam Purinton, 51, faces one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of premeditated attempted first-degree murder in Johnson County District Court in Olathe. Purinton made his first court appearance Monday before Judge Charles Droege, who scheduled Purinton for a March 9 "no go" preliminary hearing, where he'll hear his fiirst evidence in the case, court records show.