At Least 7 Dead in Shooting at Sikh Temple in Wisconsin
Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, via Associated Press
Shit...in the space of two weeks.Family members waited for information outside the temple. More Photos »
By STEVEN YACCINO and MARC SANTORA
OAK CREEK, Wis. — In what police called an act of domestic terrorism, a gunman opened fire in a Sikh temple here on Sunday, killing at least six and injuring three others before being shot and killed in the parking lot.
The rampage ended in a shootout with police. The gunman ambushed one of first officers arriving at the temple, shooting him several times, before he was killed by another officer, the authorities said Sunday afternoon. The officer remained in critical condition at a nearby hospital, along with the other two shooting victims.
The police did not release any details about the gunman or a possible motive for the shooting.
John Edwards, the police chief in Oak Creek, said at a news conference that the F.B.I. would lead the investigation because the shootings are being treated as an act of domestic terrorism.
The rampage began about 10:30 a.m. at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, just south of Milwaukee, officials said. The sprawling 17,000 square-foot temple was crowded with men, women and children taking part in Sunday services when the gunman opened fire.
Witnesses described a scene of chaos and carnage. Some women who were cooking food for a later service hid together in closets, while others fled. Men grabbed children, finding cover wherever they could.
Jatindev Mangat, whose uncle, Satwant Kaleka, is the temple president, said he tried to call his uncle as soon as he heard about the shooting. It was not his uncle who answered the phone, but the head priest of the temple.
“He was crying, everyone was screaming,” Mr. Mangat said. The gunman was still stalking the hallways and the priest could hear nearby shots, Mr. Mangat said. The priest said he was hiding in the bathroom with four other people, including two children.
By early afternoon, tactical officers had swept the building and determined that there were no other gunmen.
At a news conference, Mr. Edwards described a dramatic scene when officers arrived soon after the first 911 call. The gunman ambushed the first officer who arrived, Mr. Edwards said, severely injuring him. At that point, another police exchanged fire with the gunman, bringing him down.
Bradley Wentlandt, the chief of police in nearby Greenfield, told journalists that the injured officer was a 20-year veteran whose heroism probably saved many lives.
“That officer was shot multiple times,” Mr. Wentlandt said.
He said four bodies were found inside the temple and three were outside, including that of the gunman.
Three men suffering from gunshot wounds were admitted to Froedtert Hospital, the Milwaukee region’s main trauma center, said Nalissa Wienke, a spokeswoman for the hospital. One victim was shot in the head and extremities and another in the abdomen. The third was described as having neck injuries.
There were initially conflicting reports about whether there was more than one gunman and whether hostages had been taken inside the temple. Local news agencies, citing text messages from people inside have reported that two or more gunmen could have been involved, but the authorities said later that a single gunman was believed responsible.
“The best information is that there was only one gunman,” Mr. Edwards said a news conference.
The Sikh community around the country has seen an increase in bias attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, with its members often confused for Muslims. In fact, the Sikh religion does not have its roots in the Middle East but in Punjab, India. Many faithful often let their beards grow long and, in keeping with their faith, wear turbans.
In April, Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of New York and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Indian and Indian Americans, sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. urging the collection of data on hate-crimes committed against Sikh-Americans.
In the last year alone, Mr. Crowley said in the letter, two Sikh men in Sacramento were murdered, a Sikh temple in Michigan was vandalized and a Sikh man was beaten in New York.
“The more information our law enforcement agencies have on violence against Sikh-Americans, the more they can do to help prevent these crimes and bring those who commit them to justice,” Mr. Crowley said at the time.
There are around 314,000 Sikhs living in an America, according to Association of Religion Data Archives. The temple in Oak Creek, one of two large congregations in the Milwaukee area, was founded in 1997 and has around 400 worshipers.
The shooting came about two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded nearly 60 in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
Both President Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, released statements expressing outrage and sorrow.
“Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin,” the president said. “At this difficult time, the people of Oak Creek must know that the American people have them in our thoughts and prayers, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who were killed and wounded.”
The Indian ambassador in Washington also issued a statement, praising the Sikh community and calling them “patriotic, law-abiding, industrious generous and giving.”
In response to the shooting, the police in New York said that security was being increased at Sikh temples in the city. “There is no known threat against Sikh temples in New York City, however, the coverage is being put in place out of an abundance of caution,” the New York police said in a statement.
Outside the temple here in Oak Creek, friends and relatives were struggling to understand what happened, with many in the close-knit community having reached out to friends and family who were in the temple when the violence broke out.
Harpreet Singh, a nephew of the temple president, said his aunt, the president’s wife, was in the kitchen with other women preparing food for the day’s worship services when they heard gunshots go off.
“She said they heard a bang, bang, bang,” said Mr. Singh, 36, in a telephone interview from the basement of a bowling alley across the street from the temple, where police and F.B.I. agents were interviewing survivors.
Mr. Singh, recounting the incident as told to him by his aunt, Satpal Kaleka, said the women hid in a nearby pantry.
The women escaped, he said, witnessing the gunmen’s carnage along the way.
Mr. Singh was on his way to the temple for services with his wife, two children and his parents when police stopped them outside the parking lot.
“There were police cars running into the complex,” he said. “A couple of weeks ago some kid had set off a fire alarm so we thought something like that had happened.”
People began gathering at the temple on Sunday’s as early as 6:30 a.m. but most people begin around 10:30 or 11 for services and activities that go on until 3 or 4 p.m., Mr. Singh said.
He believed about 30 to 35 people were inside when the shooting began.
Had the gunman arrived just 15 minutes later, Mr. Singh said, there would have been 100 to 150 people inside. By 1:30 p.m., more than 300 people would have been there.
Survivors and their family members huddled in grief and confusion inside the bowling alley late Sunday afternoon, trying to sort out facts and law enforcement officials interviewed them. Mr. Singh said he was not aware of the temple receiving any threats.
“This is a very peaceful neighborhood,” he said. “It’s one of the safest areas of Milwaukee.” He said many of the temple’s members live within a mile of the complex.
Mr. Singh said he and his family would have been in the temple that morning, where his children attend Punjabi language classes on Sunday mornings, but they had trouble getting their 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son out of bed.
Steven Yaccino reported from Oak Creek, Wis., and Marc Santora from New York. Michael Schwirtz contributed from New York.
Thanks, American political system!
