7 Sikhs have been killed inside a Sikh Temple. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families!
At the moment we do not know who the shooter was, or his motivation, but in light of the rise in bias attacks and incidents against Sikhs, who are often mistaken for Muslims, this story may be related to violent anti-Muslim Islamophobia and general xenophobia.
OAK CREEK, Wis.—A gunman opened fire Sunday and killed six people at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with one of the first officers to respond to the chaotic scene, authorities said.
The shootings happened before 10:30 a.m., when witnesses said several dozen people were gathering at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for a service. Hours of uncertainty followed as police in tactical gear and carrying assault rifles surrounded the temple with armored vehicles and ambulances.
A crowd gathered outside as officers descended on the temple and some spoke of talking or exchanging text messages with people inside. Some said they had heard there were multiple shooters, others spoke of women and children held hostage.
The first official word from police was that they didn’t know how many victims or suspects were involved. But a short time later, after an extensive search of the temple, authorities said they did not believe there was more than one shooter.
Jatin Der Mangat, 38, of Racine, said his uncle Satwant Singh Kaleka, the temple’s president, was one of those shot. Mangat didn’t know how serious Kaleka’s injuries were.
“This is nerve-racking. No one really knows what’s going on. Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Mangat said. Later, when he learned of the deaths, he said, “It was like the heart just sat down. This shouldn’t happen anywhere.”
Oak Creek Police John Edwards said officers called to the scene were tending a victim when the suspect ambushed one officer and shot him multiple times. The suspect then shot at another officer, who fired back and killed him.
Earlier, police had said the officer who was shot killed the suspected shooter.
Tactical units went through the building and found four people dead inside the temple and two outside, in addition to the shooter.
Two others were wounded along with the police officer, Edwards said.
All three were being treated at an area trauma center. Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt, who was helping in the investigation, said the police officer had surgery and is expected to survive.
Wentlandt did not identify the suspect or say what might have motivated the shootings. Family members identified some victims.
Sukhwindar Nagr, of Racine, said he called his brother-in-law’s phone and a priest at the temple answered and told him that his brother-in-law had been shot, along with three priests. The priest also said women and children were hiding in temple closets, Nagr said.
Devendar Nagra, 48, of Mount Pleasant, said his sister was in the temple preparing a meal when the shooting started. He said he spoke with her and she escaped injury by hiding in the kitchen, but a priest told him that his brother-in-law, the temple’s caretaker, had been shot in the leg.
Nagra’s spoke to his sister as she was evacuated from the temple to a nearby bowling alley. LeRon Bridges, 16, of Oak Creek, works at the bowling alley and said he was in a supply closet when he heard four gunshots. He looked outside, saw police coming and went to get his boss.
“There were more and more police showing up,” he said. “They all pulled out their assault rifles and ran toward the building.”
Bridges said police brought people evacuated from the temple to the bowling alley in two armored trucks. At one point, about 50 to 60 people were at the bowling alley, including police officers questioning those from the temple and paramedics treating their wounds, he said.
“They were just hysterical,” Bridges said. “There were kids. One big load came out of the truck.”
Sikhism is a monotheistic faith founded more than 500 years ago in South Asia. It has roughly 27 million followers worldwide. Observant Sikhs do not cut their hair; male followers often cover their heads with turbans — which are considered sacred — and refrain from shaving their beards. There are roughly 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., according to estimates. The majority worldwide live in India.
The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin started in 1997 with about 25 families who gathered in community halls in Milwaukee. Construction on the current temple in Oak Creek began in 2006, according to the temple’s website.
Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs don’t practice the same religion as Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.
The New York Police Department issued a statement saying it was increasing security around Sikh temples in the city as a precaution in the wake of the Wisconsin shooting, which happened two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people at movie theater in Colorado.
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Associated Press writers Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee, Pat Condon in Minneapolis and Sophia Tareen and Michelle Janaye Nealy in Chicago contributed to this report.
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UPDATE I:
Kanwarpdeep Singh Kaleka, who was working as an interpreter for the police and is a member of the temple, said that the shooter had a 9/11 tattoo on one of his arms.
Kaleka also told CNN that the shooter seemed to be targeting men wearing turbans.
“Everyone of all faiths are allowed in the temple,” Kaleka said. “It’s unfortunate that someone took advantage of this.”
UPDATE II:
CNN is reporting that not only have police identified the dead gunman, but they are combing through his house. They will not release his identity right now, they are looking through computers to figure out why he did what he did.
Gunman may have been in the Temple before considering his familiarity with it and his movements inside the Temple.
UPDATE III:
Tattoos on the body of the slain Sikh temple gunman and certain biographical details led the FBI to treat the attack at a Milwaukee-area temple as an act of domestic terrorism, officials said Sunday.
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“The investigation will have to continue to see and determine the motive,” said a federal law enforcement official who had been briefed on the early planning for the case. “We don’t know much about the motive at this point.”
The designation of “domestic terrorism” under the FBI’s rubric — which was not applied to the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting — implies a political agenda. The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”
UPDATE IV:
OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — The gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin before he was shot to death by police was identified Monday as a 40-year-old Army veteran and former leader of a white supremacist metal band.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Haanstad in Milwaukee identified the shooter as Wade Michael Page. Page joined the Army in 1992 and was discharged in 1998, according to a defense official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information yet about the suspect.
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Page was a “frustrated neo-Nazi” who led a racist white supremacist band, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Monday. Page told a white supremacist website in an interview in 2010 that he had been part of the white-power music scene since 2000 when he left his native Colorado and started the band, End Apathy, in 2005, the nonprofit civil rights organization said.
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Page joined the military in Milwaukee in 1992 and was a repairman for the Hawk missile system before switching jobs to become one of the Army’s psychological operations specialists, according to the defense official.
So-called “Psy-Ops” specialists are responsible for the analysis, development and distribution of intelligence used for information and psychological effect; they research and analyze methods of influencing foreign populations.
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“He did not speak, he just began shooting,” said Singh, relaying a description of the attack from Satpal Kaleka.
Kaleka said the 6-foot-tall bald white man — who worshippers said they had never before seen at the temple — seemed like he had a purpose and knew where he was going.
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