Kent Sikh Shooting: FBI Will Assist In 'Hate Crime' Investigation

KENT, WA - The FBI will join the investigation into the shooting of a Sikh man outside his East Hill home on Friday night, according to multiple reports.

The Seattle Times is reporting that the FBI in a statement said it is “committed to investigating crimes that are potentially hate-motivated and we continue to work with all our community partners in the Seattle area.”

The victim, Deep Rai, 39, was released from the hospital on Saturday. Rai was shot in the arm on Friday evening outside of his home in the East Hill section of Kent. The shooter allegedly told Rai, "go back to your own country, go back to where you're from" before opening fire, Kent police have reported. Kent police believe the shooting was a hate crime.

On Sunday night, 40 Sikh and other community groups gathered in Bellevue for a vigil.

"We were hurt because it could happen to any one of us," Sikh community leader Satwinder Kauer told KOMO News. "It could be my son, it could have been my dad. It hit close to home."

Friday's shooting is not the first attack on a Sikh in the Seattle area, or the U.S. In October 2012, a Federal Way man severely beat a Sikh cab driver; Jamie Larson reportedly insulted the Sikh's attire and hurled racist comments at him. Larson was sentenced to more than three years in jail in December 2013.

On Sunday, the Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj tweeted about the incident. This is the second attack on an Indian in the U.S. in two weeks. Last week, Adam W. Purinton allegedly shot two Indian mean at a bar in Olathe, Kansas. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed in the shooting.

Image via Associated Press