Four Sikhs, including three women, were among eight people killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in the U.S. State of Indiana staffed by a large number of Indian-American employees. The incident has shocked community leaders who appealed to President Joe Biden to tackle the growing hate crimes and gun violence.
The gunman was identified as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole, a former employee. He allegedly killed himself after the shooting late on Thursday night at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis.
Hole was interviewed by FBI agents last year, after his mother called the police to say that her son might commit “suicide by cop”, the Bureau said on Friday.
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The incident is the worst attack on Sikhs in the U.S. after the Oak Creek Gurdwara mass shooting in Wisconsin on August 5, 2012, where seven members of the community were killed. About 90% of the workers at the FedEx facility are said to be Indian-Americans, mostly from the Sikh community.
“This is very heart-breaking. The Sikh community is devastated by this tragic incident,” community leader Gurinder Singh Khalsa said after meeting family members of the employees of the FedEx facility.
Late Friday night, the Marion County Coroner’s Office and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) released the names of the victims.
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Four victims who belong to the Sikh community are: Amarjeet Johal, 66, Jaswinder Kaur, 64, Amarjit Skhon, 48, and Jaswinder Singh, 68. The first three deceased are women. Other victims include Karli Smith, Alexander Matt, Samaria Blackwell and John White.
Another Sikh community member, Harpreet Singh Gill, 45, was hit by a bullet near the eye and is now in hospital.
U.S. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have expressed condolences over the tragic killings.