Wade Michael Page (40), a U.S. Army veteran, has been identified as the suspect in a shooting incident at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Sunday. Six members of the Sikh community were killed and dozens injured in the attack.
A sense of shock has gripped the nation since news of the shooting broke late on Sunday morning local time, even as President Barack Obama said he was “deeply saddened,” and was “reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family.”
Speaking at a news conference on Monday morning, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards confirmed that Page, who hailed from a neighbouring community, was a “six-year Army enlistee,” who shot the first police officer to arrive on the scene “eight or nine times at close range” after the officer went to assist a victim in a nearby parking lot. After Page continued to fire at arriving police and refused to drop his weapon an officer fatally shot him with a squad rifle, Chief Edwards said.
Regarding the victims of the attack, he added that “five Sikh men and one woman ranging in age from 39 to 84 were killed in the shooting rampage,” and three were wounded, two still in critical condition.
Although initial reports had suggested that there may have been multiple perpetrators, the police chief said Page “was the only shooter that was involved at the temple.” After receiving a “general discharge” from the military, he was “ineligible for reenlistment,” reports said.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that Page was “demoted” in rank from sergeant to specialist, but no reason for this was given. Earlier they noted that the man behind the killings was a tall, balding, white male with one or more tattoos, some related to the 9/11 terror attacks. Such accounts prompted questions about whether this had been a hate crime.
In particular, media reports mentioned the possibility that the alleged killer had confused Sikhs with Muslims, as was the case in numerous attacks on Sikhs in the U.S. that have occurred since the 2001 terror attack.
Particularly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of the U.S. was quoted as saying “Much of the slander and hate in the past, was directed under the misapprehension that Sikhs follow the religion of Islam.”
However Shaheen Khateeb, president of Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy organisation of Indian Muslims in the U.S., expressed solidarity with the Sikh community saying, “Today is a day of mourning for all who value human life and cherish freedom of religion...An attack on innocent people in a house of worship is an attack on our collective humanity and common values.”
Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Edwards had said authorities were treating the shooting as a “domestic terrorist-type incident,” and that the probe would be headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
That evening the FBI put out a statement saying that this “remains an active investigation in its early stages,” and while it was looking into whether the attack might have been an act of domestic terrorism, “no motive has been determined at this time.”
The agency also said it was working closely with the Oak Creek Police Department and other local and federal agencies to investigate the shooting and the law enforcement community “has been deeply impacted by this incident,” particularly by “the officer who was wounded in the line of duty to protect others.”
The Indian embassy in Washington said by mid-day on Sunday its representatives were in touch with the National Security Council, and the Consulate General in Chicago too was in “close touch with the local authorities to monitor the situation.”
Keywords: U.S. gurdwara shooting, Oak Creek Sikh Temple, Milwaukee County Sheriff Department, Froedtert Hospital
Before Mr. T M Chowdhury labels all Americans as barbarians, may I
remind him that an American police officer also was killed while
trying to help our Sikh bothers. Also while down, he directed all
help towards the Sikh temple, not to himself.
We are yet to know what was his motive. That would help build precautions in that direction. Also, the government and people can address or try to address the issues, if there are similar people with ulterior motives.
Sir, the American or singapore police are very swift in action towards the shooters and make them yield unlike Indian police who allow them to flee or shocked.our police should also learn some basic immediate promptness to handle such situations and catch ,not catch disable them so as not to escape.
this is another incident of racism carried out by an ex service man in the U.S . there have been many incident in America of random firing targeting the general public being gathered at particular places like academic institutions, markets, even cinema halls and now religious establishments. why these sort of menace keep happening in the most advanced nation like The U.S?? the U.s govt must have to take some strong and effective steps to control these sadden incidents.to make the strong arms license mechanism ought to be the first step to curb the killing of innocent people by psychopath obsessed with white supermacism or any other type of mental disorder. in the present time, to get access to the life killing arms is so easy that a person can get a gun by just paying its cost without justifying his need of carrying such weapon. now is the time to take some serious steps to cease these kind of ms-happening in future.
It is very sad to see some people losing their life without any fault of them. I pray for all those who have left us because of this incident and send our heartfelt condolences to families and friends. Unfortunately, to some extent, human have not emerged fully out of their animal instinct. In many part of the world people are raging against their own human brothers and sisters. I fail to understand that how people of same colour, language, culture are treated differently because of another different philosophy they follow.
The news says that ‘Sikh men tend to stand out because of their beards and colourful turbans and are sometimes confused with Muslims and viewed with suspicion.’ I think narrow mindedness does not need further distinctions.
If it is the turban of Sikh or their similarities with Muslims which made them victim then we should dig for the reasons of black peoples’ harassment on the hand of non-black in Europe, America or in sub-continent.
I can only assure the Indian people, and the global Sikh community, that we in Wisconsin are just as horrified as you are by this violence in our midst. Our bigots in America are as ignorant as bigots everywhere, and it is possible that this evil man neither knows nor cares that Sikhs are not Muslims (not that an attack on a mosque would be any less despicable than an attack on a gurdwara).
We condemn this cowardly attack on our Sikh bethren in US.India should lodge a strong protest against this kind of hatredism from the barbarous Americans.
Please Email the Editor