Witnesses: Bar gunman shouted ‘get out of my country’

Witnesses: Bar gunman shouted ‘get out of my country’

OLATHE, Kan.

In the middle of a crowded bar, Adam Purinton yelled at two Indian men to “get out of my country,” witnesses said, then opened fire in an attack that killed one of the men and wounded the other, as well as a third man who tried to help.

Hours later, the 51-year-old former air-traffic controller reportedly told a bartender in another town that he needed a place to hide because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men.

In India, the father of one of the wounded men called Wednesday’s attack in the Kansas City suburbs a hate crime, but authorities Friday declined to discuss a motive as they investigated the shooting. It swiftly stoked fears about the treatment of immigrants, who feel targeted by President Donald Trump’s promises to ban certain travelers, build a wall along the Mexico border and put “America first.”

The slain man was identified as Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32.

Bill Cosby won’t face a barrage of accusers at his trial in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA

In a major break for Bill Cosby, a judge ruled Friday that just one of the comedian’s multitude of other accusers can testify at his trial to bolster charges he drugged and violated a woman more than a decade ago.

The 79-year-old TV star is set to go on trial in June, accused of sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Prosecutors wanted to put 13 more women on the stand to show that his purported conduct was part of a distinct pattern of behavior.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill disallowed all but one of those women, saying in a one-page ruling that he carefully weighed the possible value of their testimony against the potential prejudice to Cosby.

The one witness who can testify says the comic drugged and assaulted her in 1996 at a Los Angeles hotel.

France opens full fake jobs inquiry into candidate Fillon

PARIS

The French financial prosecutor’s office decided Friday to open a judicial inquiry surrounding the purported fake parliamentary aide jobs that conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon gave to his wife and two of his children, pushing the case to a higher and riskier level for the man hoping to become the next president of France.

The announcement came as Fillon was having a rally outside Paris. The conservative candidate was once the frontrunner in polls, but his ratings slipped with the probe into payments to family members that totaled more than $1.1 million over many years.

After a preliminary investigation opened Jan. 25, the financial prosecutor’s office decided to escalate and enlarge the case, turning it over to investigating judges who can bring charges or throw the case out.

Critically, however, no one was named in the judicial investigation on a list of charges, including misappropriation of public funds, abuse of public funds and influence trafficking.

Fillon has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to carry on his campaign amid the probe. He said at one point that he would end his presidential bid if charged.

Associated Press