Sikh body seeks to reward injured police officer

New Delhi: Moved by the courage of the police officer who took eight bullets trying to rescue one of the victims of the shootout at a gurudwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee has decided to present him with $5,000.

“There were 300-400 people in the gurudwara when the shooting took place. Had there been any lapses on the part of the police, the loss would have much more. We have decided to give $5000 to the police officer who has been injured. We are trying to get more details about him and whether we are allowed to reward the police officer,” said Harvinder Singh, former president of the Committee.

Gloom of death. AP

Singh, who handed over a letter to the US ambassador Nancy Powell on Monday urging the government to curb gun culture, said she assured him that all steps necessary would be taken to ensure that such a incident is not repeated.

Praising the swift response by the police department and the US government, Singh said, “A police officer put his own life in danger and killed the gunman. We are very thankful to the police department. Within two hours, gurudwaras across country were provided with security cover.”

The “identity problems” faced by the Sikh community, which number three million across the United States and Canada combined, was due to a general lack of awareness among the American public about the Sikh community and religion, said Singh.

with thanks : FIRST POST : LINK for detailed news. 

Sikh temple leader, police officers hailed as heroes

His community under attack, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin president Satwant Singh Kaleka fought back with all his strength and a simple butter knife, trying to stab a murderous gunman before taking two fatal gunshots to the leg.

Shot nine times and left for dead as he tended to a wounded victim outside, Oak Creek police Lt. Brian Murphy tried to wave off his colleagues' aid, insisting worshippers indoors needed their help more.

Under fire in the temple parking lot, 32-year veteran Oak Creek police officer Sam Lenda took aim and shot back, downing the gunman who refused to drop his weapon after killing six people as they gathered for Sunday services.

Kaleka, Murphy and Lenda — one dead, one critically injured and one physically unharmed — are being hailed as heroes for saving lives in the shootings that sent more shock waves through the nation just two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people inside an Aurora, Colo., movie theatre.

Police say gunman Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old army veteran and former leader of a white supremacist heavy metal band, unloaded a 9-mm handgun at the temple. They have not determined a motive.

What they have done is hailed the actions of those caught in the crossfire.

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Sikh temple shooting: Barack Obama calls for 'soul searching' on US violence

 

President Barack Obama said on Monday that mass killings like the shooting rampage at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were occurring with "too much regularity" and should prompt soul searching by all Americans, but he stopped short of calling for new gun-control laws.

"All of us are heart-broken by what happened," Mr Obama told reporters at the White House a day after a gunman opened fire on Sikh worshippers preparing for religious services, killing six before he was shot dead by a police officer.

But when asked whether he would push for further gun-control measures in the wake of the shootings, Mr Obama said only that he wanted to bring together leaders at all levels of American society to examine ways to curb gun violence.

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Americans pour out for mourning of Sikh shooting victims

Americans poured out in hundreds to offer support and join solemn farewell prayers for the six victims of a shooting tragedy in a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek.

One by one, the mourners in barefoot stepped forward to bow down their heads to pay their last farewell at the mourning organised at a Gurdwara just 40-km from the scene of Sunday's bloodshed.

Dozens more stood in the lobby to register their support as there was no room for them to join the prayers.

The mourners, mostly white Americans, were touched when the grief-stricken Sikh community opened the doors of the Brookfield gurdwara to embrace hundreds who came to offer their support in the aftermath of the shooting.

"I came with my family to show our support to the grief-stricken people. It was a bad man who did the killings," a tearful Hope Bailey of Muskego told the local Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Gurdawara killer's mother apologizes to Sikh victims

London: The mother of an ex-soldier who shot dead six people at a Sikh temple in the US said she was devastated when she heard about the shooting. 

Laura Lynn told the MailOnline that she has had no contact with her 41-year-old son Wade Michael Page since she and his father Jesse Alvin Page divorced. 

"My heart goes out to all the people who lost their loved ones, that's all I can say, I am so sorry," Lynn said. 

Page, a white supremacist, was leader of End Apathy, a white power music band affiliated with the Hammerskins, a white supremacist group. 

The band's MySpace page states that End Apathy's "music is a sad commentary on our sick society and the problems that prevent true progress". 

Lynn said: "He was such a precious little boy, that's all I can say, he was a very fun-loving, typical little boy. He was just a very soft spoken, gentle young man." 

Page was kicked out of the army in 1998 after serving six years. 

The victims of his shooting spree at the gurdwara have been identified as Bhai Seeta Singh, 41, Bhai Parkash Singh, 39, Bhai Ranjit Singh, 49, Satwant Singh Kaleka, 62, Subegh Singh, 84, Parmjit Kaur Toor, 41. 

The injured are Bhai Punjab Singh - who is in critical condition - and Santokh Singh. 

IANS

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Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting in USA

O mere dil ke chain.........by money vohra

Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting

Sikh temple shooter was a white supremacist, officials say

OAK CREEK, Wis. -- The gunman who killed six people inside a Sikh temple in the U.S. and was killed in a police shootout was a 40-year-old army veteran, officials said Monday, and a civil rights group identified him as a "frustrated neo-Nazi" who led a white supremacist band.

Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting

Police called Sunday's attack an act of domestic terrorism. The FBI said there was no reason to think anyone else was involved in the attack, and they were not aware of any past threat made against the temple.

The shooter was Wade Michael Page, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Haanstad in Milwaukee. Page was discharged from the army in 1998 and declared ineligible to re-enlist, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information about the suspect.

Officials and witnesses said the gunman walked into the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and opened fire as several dozen people prepared for Sunday morning services. Six were killed, and three were critically wounded.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the gunman used a legally purchased 9mm handgun and multiple magazines of ammunition. Local authorities said they had had no contact with Page before Sunday.

"We never thought this could happen to our community," said Devendar Nagra, 48, whose sister escaped injury by hiding as the gunman fired in the temple's kitchen. "We never did anything wrong to anyone."

The New York-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs are not Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.

Page was a "frustrated neo-Nazi" who led a racist white supremacist band, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Monday. Page told a white supremacist website in an interview in 2010 that he had been part of the white power music scene since 2000, when he left his native Colorado and started the band, End Apathy, in 2005, the civil rights organization said.

He told the website his "inspiration was based on frustration that we have the potential to accomplish so much more as individuals and a society in whole," according to the SPLC. He did not mention violence in the interview.

Page joined the military in 1992 and was a repairman for the Hawk missile system before switching jobs to become one of the Army's psychological operations specialists, according to the defense official.

So-called "Psy-Ops" specialists are responsible for the analysis, development and distribution of intelligence used for information and psychological effect; they research and analyze methods of influencing foreign populations.

with thanks : Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/20120806wisconsin-sikh-temple-shooting-gunman-identified.html#ixzz22pVOUjyZ

Statement by President Obama on the Shooting in Wisconsin

President Obama today released the following statement on the tragic shooting in Wisconsin:

Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin. 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. My Administration will provide whatever support is necessary to the officials who are responding to this tragic shooting and moving forward with an investigation. As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family.

Strongly condemn the attack : DSGMC