The Kent Police Department is investigating a Friday night shooting that left a man wounded in the Panther Lake neighborhood as a possible hate crime.
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A victim was shot about 8 p.m. in his driveway by another man who yelled, “Go back to your own country.” Authorities say the armed individual walked up to the victim, who was working on his car in a driveway. The victim, who is a member of the Sikh community, was wearing a turban.
“To think this could happen in our community is very surprising and very disappointing,” police Chief Ken Thomas said.
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Thomas went on to say that the suspect and the victim did not know each other.
“This is the first incident of this magnitude that I am aware of in the city of Kent,” Thomas said.
Kent police chief says dept. is investigating last night's shooting as a possible hate crime against member of Sikh community. pic.twitter.com/pLcWsobvm4
— Ryan Takeo (@RyanTakeo) March 4, 2017
Members of the Sikh community came out to talk to police. They want to push authorities, including the FBI, to investigate this as a hate crime. One man says many people are scared and couldn’t believe something like this could happen here.
“All they see is a person with a turban, so it could have easily been me,” Amarjit Singh said.
The 39-year-old victim’s name has not been released. Police say he was shot in the arm and is expected to be OK. The shooter is white and about 6 feet tall, with a medium build. Anyone with information is asked to call police.