The death toll of the recent shooting at a Kansas sports bar in the US, which left one Indian-American dead and another injured, may have been higher, had it not been for the brave actions of 24-year-old US national Ian Grillot.
Grillot, was also shot trying to take on the shooter, who has been identified an ex-navy veteran.
On Wednesday night, Ian Grillot had been hanging out at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas when 51-year-old Adam Purington opened fire. His targets were a couple of Indian-American engineers, S Kuchibhotla and A Madassani, who were present at the bar.
According to reports, the shooting may have been a racial hate crime, though authorities have not confirmed it yet.
What did Ian do?
Like the others, Grillot also initially ducked under the table when the shooting began. But unlike others, Ian decided to take down the shooter. He had mistakenly thought the shooter’s bullets were over and ended up getting shot in the arm and chest, NDTV reported.
Though Kuchibhotla did not make it, Madasani survived the attack. Both he and Ian are said to be in a stable condition now.
Why did he do it?
“It’s not about where he was from or his ethnicity, we are all humans, so I felt what was naturally right to do– I was just doing what anyone would have done,” Ian told reporters after regaining consciousness at the University of Kansas Hospital.
Grillot was saddened to hear of the death of S Kuchibhotla, though he was very pleased to hear about possibly having saved the other victim, Madasani, who he claims is his ‘new best friend’.
Madasani went to Grillot’s hospital to thank him. Upon finding out that his wife was five-months pregnant, Ian said that now he was sure something had been ‘guiding’ him ‘to do what he did‘.
But who is Ian Grillot?
Locals claim that before the shooting, the shooter had allegedly hurled racial slurs at the Indian-Americans. Ian, who had been having dinner and watching a game of basketball at the bar with friends, intervened in their defence. Purington was then made to leave the bar but he returned to shoot at the two engineers, the KansasCity Star reported.
A GoFundMe crowdfunding account was set up to raise money for Grillot’s tratment after the shooting and and it has already received over $112,000.
Even as Americans from all states are hailing him as a hero, Ian claims he only did what was ‘right’.
“It was just, it wasn’t right, and I didn’t want the gentleman (shooter) to potentially go after somebody else.” he said.
According to Ian’s Facebook profile, the 2010 graduate of Olathe North High School is a fishing enthusiast and likes the outdoors. He has two sisters and lives in Holly Ridge, North Carolina.
