7 dead and dozens injured in mass shooting at Sikh temple

[aishah]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-sikh-t...9#.UB7Y8E1lR8x

Seven people are dead after a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wis., this morning, according to police.

Two others, a civilian and a police officer, were injured and were being treated at a local hospital. At least one suspected shooter is among the dead, Greenfield, Wis., Police Chief Brad Wentlandt said today.

Police are still trying to determine if there was another shooter involved in the attack, during which at least one gunman walked into the temple around 10:25 a.m. and opened fire. Wentlandt said the calls reporting different shooters may be separate reports of the same gunman.

"They went to church, not knowing that they might die today," said Simran Kaleka, whose family was in the temple, according to ABC News Radio. "I don't know how sick you have to be to do that, and I don't know if it was directed toward the Sikh culture and them having turbans and having beards, but ignorance is not going to get us anywhere."

The first police officer to arrive on scene after a flurry of 911 calls exchanged gunfire with the shooter, receiving multiple gunshot wounds in the process. He was rushed into surgery at Froedtert Hospital, the main trauma center in the Milwaukee region, Wentlandt said.

"An officer arrived and engaged a suspect. That officer was shot multiple times. He is expected to survive," Wentlandt told the news media.

The gunman, he said, "is down on the scene and is presumed deceased."


Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel/AP Photo
Family members wait outside a Sikh temple in... View Full Size
Four others were found dead inside the temple, while three people, including the shooter, were found dead outside the building.

Police are still performing tactical searches of the building to ensure that they have evacuated all of the injured people and cleared the building of any additional shooters.

"We believe we have the situation contained here" at the temple," Wentlandt said. "We do not know if there are other shooters at the scene."

He asked media outlets to stop broadcasting aerial footage from helicopters on television because of tactical operations at the scene.

Among those shot was the president of the temple, Satwant Singh Kaleka, who recently hosted a state representative and the county district attorney to discuss a recent rise in violence against area Sikhs at their stores and businesses, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

On Sundays, Sikh temples, called gurudwaras, serve a community meal at which anyone is welcome as part of their community service. The meal, known as a langar, follows the morning services.

The Sikh religion originated in the Punjab region of India.

"Every single member of my family was inside that church," Simran Kaleka said. "No matter who is shot and killed in there, it's going to affect all of us out here because a lot of people are related here. And it's just, for me, my life flashed before my eyes because it's my whole family."

According to information broadcast over police radio, a witness to the shooting told law enforcement the shooter was a white male, bald, with a heavy build. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt, according to Oak Creek Patch. He was last seen with two handguns.

A spokeswoman for Froedtert Hospital said that three men were taken there and the hospital was ready to receive more, according to the Associated Press.

Federal agents from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau were sent to the scene of the shooting, two government officials told ABC News.

There were more than a dozen ambulances parked outside the temple, and police moved media and a handful of bystanders to an area near the temple.

Amardeep Kaleka, a member of the temple, told ABC affiliate WISN his father was inside during the shooting and his mother was hiding inside, believing the gunman was still inside. Kaleka said that a priest called for emergency help after the shooting.

one shooter is dead - everything i've found says they don't know if there was more than one shooter. one source is reporting that as many as 30 people may have been injured. no info yet on who the shooter is or the possible motivations, although there's apparently been an increase in violence against sikhs in the area.

[Ginger]

Terrifying. Disturbing. On so many levels.

[aishah]

agreed. sending lots of prayers...god, i can't even imagine. i was in church when it was happening. thinking about going to your place of worship and being gunned down just...what the hell. it sends chills down my spine.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by aishah

http://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-sikh-t...9#.UB7Y8E1lR8x



one shooter is dead - everything i've found says they don't know if there was more than one shooter. one source is reporting that as many as 30 people may have been injured. no info yet on who the shooter is or the possible motivations, although there's apparently been an increase in violence against sikhs in the area.

According to Yahoo news, the Police Chief was quoted as saying, "We have not identified additional shooters" and the tactical team swept the temple, so hopefully it was just the one guy.

I literally *just* read about this while checking my Yahoo mail before coming here - so unbelievably sad and tragic that these sorts of things keep happening.

My thoughts are with the victims, survivors, and their friends and family.

[RockOn]

Horrible!!!!

I hope I am sooooooo wrong ... but I predict incidents similar to this will continue with more and more frequency.

Poor people didn't have a chance against a nut with handguns whose intent was to destroy lives. Wonder if he was hoping to one-up Colorado's batman psycho.

[Greco]

aishah,

Thank you for posting this very sad news. They're loss is a loss for all of us.

I hope that trauma therapists get to the community before too much time passes.

Greco

[Electrocell]

This is really sad all the way around. To be killed for no other reason than that your beliefs are different from what someone else believes.

[aishah]

this article has a lot more info about the timeline and victims.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/r...165059506.html

[Lady Pamela]

[aishah]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/us...ting.html?_r=1

this is the first time that i can remember of the authorities treating an attack on a gurudwara or mosque as an act of domestic terrorism. this article has more info about the shooter.

[JustJo]

This whole thing is just heartbreaking and disgusting. I can only imagine the pain and grief of the families, and the community.

Someone posted on Facebook an image that I now can't find....but basically said something to the effect of intending to post an explanation of the differences between Muslims and Sikhs, and then realizing that it really wasn't necessary for people to understand about someone else's religious beliefs in order to know enough not to shoot them.

Hate and violence get us nowhere....and I seriously don't get why that's so hard for people to understand.

[*Anya*]

America...land of the free,

as long as you are white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, straight and not different in any way, shape or form.


Said as a half-Jewish lesbian.

[aishah]

http://sikhcoalition.org/get-involve...munity-support
resources for those wanting to support the sikh community. includes a list of vigils around the u.s. and canada as well as a pdf of ways to support the sikh community through holding a vigil, spreading awareness, donating to the victims, etc.

jo, i just shared that image on fb here it is...



also this film has pages of info related to hate crimes against the sikh community post 9/11. sikhs were the first to be attacked (the first man to die in a hate crime related to 9/11 was a sikh) because they are often assumed to be muslim.
http://www.dwf-film.com/

[spritzerJ]

Originally Posted by aishah

http://sikhcoalition.org/get-involve...munity-support
resources for those wanting to support the sikh community. includes a list of vigils around the u.s. and canada as well as a pdf of ways to support the sikh community through holding a vigil, spreading awareness, donating to the victims, etc.

jo, i just shared that image on fb here it is...



also this film has pages of info related to hate crimes against the sikh community post 9/11. sikhs were the first to be attacked (the first man to die in a hate crime related to 9/11 was a sikh) because they are often assumed to be muslim.
http://www.dwf-film.com/

Thank you for the link. I learned a ton.

[DMW]

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED1ZIbbxPOc&feature=related"]Red rain Peter Gabriel, Nathalie Merchant & REM - YouTube[/nomedia]



I am standing up at the water's edge in my dream
I cannot make a single sound as you scream
It can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch
This place is so quiet, sensing that storm

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

Well I've seen them buried in a sheltered place in this town
They tell you that this rain can sting, and look down
There is no blood around see no sign of pain
Hay ay ay no pain
Seeing no red at all, see no rain

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

Red rain-
Putting the pressure on much harder now
To return again and again
Just let the red rain splash you
Let the rain fall on your skin
I come to you defences down
With the trust of a child

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me
And I can't watch any more
No more denial
It's so hard to lay down in all of this
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I see it
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm bathing in it
Red rain coming down
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm begging you
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Over me in the red red sea
Over me
Over me
Red rain