Police officials in the northern state of Wisconsin say at
least seven people were killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in a suburb of
Milwaukee. A police officer responding to the shooting was wounded in an
exchange with the gunman, who is among the dead.
The shooting occurred Sunday morning as dozens of
worshippers gathered at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek.
Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt says one of the
first officers to respond to the incident encountered a gunman, who opened
fire. “The first officer on the scene is a 20-year law enforcement veteran, an
extremely accomplished tactical officer.
When he arrived on the scene, he engaged an active shooter outside of
the temple. Multiple rounds were
exchanged. The officer was shot multiple
times," he said.
"Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded more than 500
years ago in the Punjab district of what is now India and Pakistan.There are 20 million Sikhs in the world, and Sikhism is most
highly concentrated in the Punjab province of India. The New York-based United
Sikhs organization says estimates place the Sikh population in the United
States between 400,000 and 1 million. The religion was founded by Guru Nanak and is based on his
teachings and the teachings of the nine Sikh gurus who followed him."
Sikhism stresses truth, equality and doing good deeds rather
than merely carrying out rituals. Wentlandt
says officers killed the alleged shooter and that four people were found dead
inside the temple. Friends and family members of worshipers told local media
that several people, including the president of the temple, were being treated
for gunshot wounds at area hospitals.
A man who said his uncle was among the wounded, told
reporters that Sunday services are among the biggest weekly gatherings at the
temple. "The gunman came earlier than when most people come, so I think,
relatively, damages were somewhat limited.
But I mean, if this had happened an hour or two later, God knows how
many people would be hurt or dead," he said.
Sunday’s shooting put other Sikh temples in the area on a
heightened state of alert, with local police departments guarding other temples
as a precaution.
The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin’s website says about 350 to 400
people worship at the site. The Sikh
community in southeastern Wisconsin is relatively small, and includes a total
of about 3,000 families.
There were isolated incidents of violence against Wisconsin
Sikhs in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
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