Sikh Temple massacre takes six lives, leaves state stunned; more briefs

Talk about it

Why? That’s what everybody wants to know this morning after a gunman killed six people and injured three others Sunday at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek south of Milwaukee.

The gunman died a few minutes later in a shootout with police.

The FBI is leading the investigation since it appears to be an act of domestic terrorism. Special Agent Teresa Carlson said no motive had been determined as of last night.

Agent Tom Ahern of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said warrants were served late Sunday at the gunman’s duplex in Cudahy. Federal agents, police and a bomb squad evacuated several homes before searching the duplex.

The shootings happened about an hour before the Sunday service was to begin at the Sikh Temple. The facility had been open for several hours, a few dozen people were praying inside, and a dozen women were making food for a Sunday dinner when the shooting began and people scattered – some in a kitchen pantry.

Satpal Kaleka, the wife of the temple’s president, saw the gunman come in. Her nephew said he did not speak before he began shooting, and he carried himself like he had a purpose.

There were fears that children were being held hostage, but that didn’t happen, and it was determined that the gunman acted alone.

Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said the officer who killed the suspect was wounded, and he was critical condition along with two other victims last night. Police said the officer would survive.

When tactical units went through, they found four bodies inside the temple and two outside.

The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin was formed in 1997. Members called the shootings a hate crime. One leader said the temple had not been the subject of any recent threats.

Victims identified

The son of the temple president said his father, Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, tried to attack the suspect just outside the building. He was wounded in the lower part of his body, went back inside and hid with others and died there.

A United Nations humanitarian group called United Sikhs identified the other victims on its Facebook page. They were Parkash Singh and Seeta Singh, both priests, and worshippers Ranjit Singh, Parmjit Kaur Toor and Subegh Singh.

The United Sikhs also identified the two injured worshippers as Punjab Singh, who was said to be in critical condition, and Santokh Singh, who was serious.

Little known about alleged shooter

One account describes the gunman in the massacre as a white, single Army veteran in his 40’s. Officers and a bomb squad searched the man’s duplex apartment in Cudahy last night.

The landlord, Kurt Weins, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he rented the unit to a man he believed was from Chicago and did not have a record of violence in Wisconsin. The landlord did not give a reporter the man’s name on instructions from police.

Weins said he saw nothing suspicious about the man’s behavior during the short time he knew him, and he appeared to be a loner.

A neighbor told the Journal Sentinel the suspect used to live across the street with a girlfriend, but they broke up in the last few weeks, and he then moved into the duplex. Weins said he didn’t know anything about a girlfriend.

Fearing a tragedy

The head of the national Sikh Council on Religion and Education said it was a matter of time before there was an incident like this. Rajwant Singh said the country’s half million Sikhs have been fearing a tragedy like this since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 when some mistook the Sikhs for Islamic terrorists, and targeted members of a peaceful religion that stresses equality.

Singh said there’s “so much ignorance, and people confuse us as being members of Taliban or belonging to Osama bin Laden.”

In Milwaukee alone, there have been at least four other attacks against Sikhs since 9-11.

Swarnjit Arora of Milwaukee’s Sikh Religious Society said two taxis owned by Sikh drivers were vandalized, and two Sikh men were beaten. The Sikh Coalition has reported over 700 such incidents in the U.S. during the last 11 years.

Filmmaker Valarie Kaur of New Haven, Conn., has chronicled Sikh attacks since 9-11. She said the Wisconsin shootings are “reverberating through every Sikh American home.” And she said those people are “hurting, grieving and afraid.”

Kaur calls it a hate crime, although authorities have not established a motive.

Sikh men often cover their heads with turbans, and because they don’t shave or cut their hair, advocates say many are mistaken for Muslims.

The Sikh faith began over 500 years ago in southern Asia. Wisconsin’s Sikh Temple began 15 years ago when worshippers met in community halls. They’ve had their own temple in Oak Creek for about six years.

‘Wisconsin weeps’

Hundreds of people attended a vigil in downtown Milwaukee last night for the temple shooting victims. A group called the Overpass Light Brigade held up a large lighted sign that said, “Wisconsin Weeps.”

Three women organized the event and handed out candles, but they did not arrange for any formal speeches. Instead, the crowd gathered in a circle at Cathedral Square as they spoke informally. The first man recited The Lord’s Prayer. Other prayers and remembrances followed.

Many members of the Sikh religion were at the vigil, and they thanked others for their kind words. One member said, “We are a peace-loving people.”

Police said about 150 people were at the vigil at any one time. Many came and went throughout the evening.

State’s history of mass murders

Until yesterday, Wisconsin went almost five years without having a mass murder, and the state has now had five such tragedies in the last eight years.

The last one was in Crandon in October of 2007. Police officer Tyler Peterson opened fire at a homecoming party hosted by a girlfriend who refused to see him. The girl and five others were killed, and Peterson killed himself as other officers closed in on him.

In June of 2007, six people died at an apartment in Delavan. Ambrosio Analco shot his estranged wife, their twin baby boys, her sister and a friend. Analco then turned the gun on himself.

In March of 2005, seven people died and four were wounded when computer technician Terry Ratzmann fired shots during a religious service at a hotel in Brookfield. Ratzmann later killed himself.

During the 2004 deer hunting season, Chai Vang killed six people and wounded two others in Sawyer County in a dispute over a tree stand. Vang is now in prison, serving six life terms plus 165 years.

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Eau Claire man presumed drowned

An Eau Claire man was missing and presumed drowned after he fell from a raft on the Wolf River in northeast Wisconsin.

Authorities said Michael Danovsky, 39, went missing near Keshena Saturday afternoon and never resurfaced.

A search took place Saturday night and Sunday, but at last word, the man’s body had not been found.

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Study: Family trips decline in August, September

A new study shows that many families in the Upper Midwest stay at home in August and September when school starts before Labor Day.

The University of Minnesota’s Tourism Center examined travelers’ behavior in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Virginia. Researchers found that family trips of two or more nights went down by 50% in August and September when their kids go to school before Labor Day. Also, one-night visits were down 30% during that same period.

The data for the study came from U.S, Census Bureau’s Time Use survey.

In Wisconsin, schools cannot legally begin their fall classes until at least Sept. 1.

Many schools, especially rural ones, used to start around mid-August. But tourist operators complained that their summer workers were leaving too early. So in the late 1990’s, former Gov. Tommy Thompson signed a law requiring a Sept. 1 start date, but schools could still start earlier if they held public hearings.

Former Gov. Scott McCallum got rid of that loophole in 2001, saying too many schools were using it. Now, schools don’t end until early-to-mid June, and that’s made farmers upset because they need the young help.

There have been several efforts to repeal the Sept. 1 start date, but none have been successful.

Tags: state news, crime, wisconsin