Even as two Indian men were shot at a crowded bar on Wednesday night in Kansas in the United States by a Navy veteran, a third person who intervened was also injured.
Ian Grillot, who is recovering at a hospital, has received a lot of praise on social media, after he stood up to 51-year-old Adam Purinton, the gunman who was allegedly making racial slurs.
Adam is suspected to have shot and killed Hyderabad-native Srinivas Kuchibhotla along with another Indian, Alok Madasani. Both the men were engineers for Garmin.
A video released by University of Kansas Health System shows Ian Grillot narrating the incident. Ian said that he hid behind a table initially and counted nine shots. He then jumped out to chase the gunman, only to realise that there was one bullet left in the gun.
Ian was shot in the hand and the chest after he tried to confront Adam.
“I guess I miscounted with everything going around,” Grillot said.
"The bullet went through my hand, my chest, fractured something on my neck, and the next thing I remember was being at the hospital," he added.
He goes on to say, "I wasn't really thinking when I did that. It wasn't right. I didn’t want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else. If he did it once, what would stop him from doing it again?”
Kansas City Star reported that Grillot, was a 2010 graduate from Olathe North High School, who was a regular to the bar, and had come in on Thursday night to watch the basketball game.
While Srinivas Kuchibhotla succumbed to his injuries, Alok Madasani was discharged from the hospital on Thursday.
Following this, Alok went straight to meet Ian. Speaking about it, Ian says, “It was great. It just put the biggest smile on my face. I also found out that his wife was five months pregnant."
"I’m just very grateful that one of the gentlemen is fine and alive. It’s terrible what happened to his friend. But I think he was watching over us last night," he added.
51-year-old Adam Purinton opened fire at Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe, before heading to an Applebee's in Clinton Missouri, where he told an employee that he needed a place to hide, as he had just shot 'Middle Eastern' men.
He was arrested around five hours after the shooting, when the Applebee's employee called up the police.
An eyewitness also told local media that the gunman yelled 'get out of my country' at the Indians, before he opened fire.
A crowdfunding campaign has also been started for Ian.