Day of terror for Sikh devotees in US

06 August, 2012

Sikh devotees faced a morning of terror when an armed, tall and bald man started firing on them, killing 6 of them and injuring many seriously. The incident has caused outrage across the world and people are expressing their sympathies with the victims.

AUGUST 5 morning in a Gurudwara of Wisconsin in the US was a nightmare for all devotees present there. A white man in his 40s entered into the Gurdwara and started firing on the people indiscriminately. He killed 6 people on the spot after entering from the kitchen just before the services were about to start. Gunman also injured many sikh devotees before he was shot dead by the police.

Some people also witnessed the tattoo on his body mentioning 9/11. Police is also investigating if it was a case of domestic terrorism. But for now FBI has taken charge and is investigating the reason behind the violence. The FBI is working closely with the Oak Creek Police Department and other local and federal agencies to investigate today's shooting incident," FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson said in a statement, according to Hindustan Times.

"He had tattoos, I don't know what the exact markings were, or if they represented any of his beliefs or what they stood for," said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is to be beleived that four people were killed inside the temple and two were killed by gunman outside the temple and when a police officer of Oak Creek police department was helping a victim who was shot, then ambushed gunman also shot him but he is expected to survive, while second police officer shot him dead on the spot.

People from sikh community from Wisconsin are in a state of shock and anger and are demanding protection for 60,000 sikh residing there. On the other side, in India Sikh community is planning to vent out their anger in the form of protests in front of US embassy in Delhi.

As for now local administration of Wisconsin has deployed police protection to all religious places as a precautionary measure. Authorities said that suspect had used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, which was recovered from the scene.

A witness said, "It was a horrible place, a lot of blood and basically screams of everybody. Children, women, everybody. It was chaotic inside. People didn't know what was going on."

"Our priest, he's dead. One of my friends' grandfathers, he's dead. It's a very close-knit community. No matter who's hurt, we're all family," Harinder Kaur, a 22-year-old student, told AFP. Reports are also saying that the gunman was an ex-army man but authorities denied to disclose his identity for now.