“After the nightmarish incident, do we really need to go and work in the United States," asked Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy, father of Alok Madasani, injured software engineer in Kansas shooting incident, on Friday.
"Thank God, my son survived the firing. But I feel sorry for Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was close to my son," Mr. Reddy, Chief Engineer in the Rural Water Supply department of the Government of Telangana, told The Hindu on Friday.
Narrating his conversation with his injured son, Mr. Reddy said: "My son and Srinivas, along with their American friend, had visited the bar. The said assailant started yelling at them, saying get out of my country. The American friend alerted the Barowner, who sent away the person, who was reportedly heavily drunk."
ADVERTISEMENT
The American is said to have returned with a gun and shot dead Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was sitting alone. "Alok was holding a plate to have his dinner, saw the firing and tried to escape. Three rounds were fired at him but two whizzed past him and the third one hit a wall and pierced into his thigh," Mr. Reddy said, quoting his elder son Madasani Surender Reddy, who works in Dallas.
The American friend then rushed and tried to stop the assailant from creating mayhem. In the process, he also sustained injuries, Mr. Reddy said.
Alok and American friend Ion Grillot tried to pacify the assailant, identified as Adam Purinton, that the two Indians were legal immigrants and had all the permission to work in the U.S.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Reddy, who resides in Telephone Colony of Kothapet in the city, said his son had obtained his passport in Warangal and hence it was initially believed that they hailed from that city. "The information from my elder son and conversation with Alok says that he is safe. We are shocked by the incident and so are they in the U.S.," Mr. Reddy said, adding that he was trying to go to the U.S. to meet his son.
"For the last 11 years, I have been booking my tickets to the U.S. to visit my two sons but in vain. My work has resulted in the trip getting postponed everytime. But this time, I want to rush there to meet my sons," he said. He had also spoken to Srinivas Kuchibhotla a couple of times, he said.
Mr. Reddy said Srinivas's father-in-law Balakrishna also stayed in Snehapuri Colony close to Kothapet but was not picking up telephone when he tried to reach him. "I will personally visit their house and express my condolences," Mr. Reddy said.