Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.
UPDATE 2: Via CNN.
More details are coming out, and the shooting has been called a “domestic terrorist-type incident” by police. Four bodies were found in the temple, and three outside,
… including a gunman shot by a police officer … .
The officer was wounded but ‘returned fire, and that shooter was put down,’ said Bradley Wentlandt, the police chief in nearby Greenfield, who briefed reporters. …
At an afternoon news conference, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said that authorities are treating the shooting as a ‘domestic terrorist-type incident,’ adding that the FBI will head the investigation.
Two semi-automatic handguns believed used by the shooter were recovered from the scene, a law enforcement source directly involved in the investigation told CNN.
At least three wounded, including the officer, were being treated at Milwaukee’s Froedtert Hospital, spokeswoman Carolyn Bellin told CNN. All three were in critical condition. …
UPDATE: More from JSonline here:
At least seven people were killed, including one shooter, just after 10 a.m. Sunday at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, police said.
Four of the dead were inside the temple at 7512 S. Howell Ave. and three of the dead, including a shooter, were outside the temple.
A police SWAT team entered the building before noon and brought uninjured people out of the building at 7512 S. Howell Ave.
They started removing injured people from the temple’s prayer room.
SWAT team members were still sweeping the building about 1 p.m. and an explosion was heard from the building at that time. It was unclear what the explosion was.
The first officer on the scene encountered an active shooter and exchanged fire with him, according to Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt who briefed media on the scene.
The shooter went down and is believed to be dead, said Wentlandt, who is acting as police spokesman for the incident. He said authorities had no evidence of a second shooter.
Wentlandt said the officer was hit multiple times, but is expected to survive. He said the officer was a 20-year veteran and “an extremely accomplished tactical officer.” He was taken to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa where he was in surgery just before 2 p.m.
Original post is below.
Four people were shot and killed in a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, with SWAT dispatched. Go here for a video.
In Milwaukee, via the Journal Sentinel:
At least four shot at Sikh Temple, victims being taken out
At least four people were shot just after 10 a.m. Sunday at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, and a police SWAT team entered the building before noon and brought uninjured people out of the building at 7512 S. Howell Ave.
Victims were being taken out of the temple.
Among those who were shot was the president of the temple. …
There were reports that children were taken to the building’s basement after shots were fired. …
One of the temple’s committee members, Ven Boba Ri, said that based on communication with people inside the temple, the shooter was a white male in his 30s.
According to Ri, the man started shooting after he walked up to a priest who was standing outside, and shot him.
Then he went inside and started shooting. …
Oak Creek police were not giving out any information at this point. …
Meanwhile, Brookfield police officers were dispatched to the Sikh Temple at 3675 N. Calhoun Road as a precaution in the aftermath of the Oak Creek shooting.
Just as we were about to forget the Colorodo shootings and the serious discussions that could have led up to it, (by the mass media manipulation of “corppraticians”)…here we are again…this time WI. I believe that the cycle will continue and continue…”ordinary unarmed citizens murdered en mass by other ordinary citizens”!
Joyce I made a mistake and hit”submit” while previewing my comment before I had a chance to make any corrections…..I hate doing that because the gist of the comment is even less recieved…not to mention that my spelling is already bad!
OH…the “made-up” mispelled word is …”corporaticians”…
I am really going to do better with my spelling!
Oak Creek police chief has said that the FBI will be taking over the criminal investigation and they are calling it a act of domestic at of terrorism.
Antonio, I’ve hit “submit” more than once when I wasn’t really ready, so I understand the frustration.
As to your point about “we were about to forget the Colorodo shootings” — we do seem to forget fairly quickly. And if the incidents continue happening this close together, it might be even more difficult to remember.
Angels, thanks for the update.
I don’t know what the answer is for these continued acts of violence in our country but I do know one thing, we cannot not talk about what we must and can do to minimize the damage here. I say minimize because I don’t think we can ever stop someone from carrying out these atrocities. Our entire attitude towards mentally ill people needs to be examined minutely here and we must also include gun control in that discussion. It sees to me the legislation introduced by NY Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney who lost her husband and her son was permanently disabled because of Colin Ferguson. http://tinyurl.com/dxsuba
I was lucky four times in my life. the good stuff: when I met my partner and the birth of our daughter.
The bad stuff: In 1993 when the World Trade Center truck bombing occurred in the Noth Tower (I worked at 1 Liberty Plaza across from the Towers, felt the explosion and saw the damage done to people whose faces were blackened by the blast), and again later that year in 1993 and the Long Island Railroad attack by Ferguson: I was on the train following the one Ferguson attacked and when we stopped at the Merillon Avenue station after an hour sitting between stations, we all looked out the window and saw the blood stained cars. I will never forget either of those days. It left a scar in me. I can onlly imagine what scars were left on the people who directly experienced these horrific events. As I can only imagine what the people in all of these horrifc events went through.
We must talk about these things. Sweeping them under cover is not the answer. If not now, when?
Also, this comes to mind. Christians in Egypt could well be in danger of being targets of the newly elected government there. And, although I am not a religious person, I feel for those people inasmuch I feel people should be able to practice their religions without interfering with my sense of fairness and my own civil rights.
In this country, I am sick of Christians (evangelicals and conservative Christians) who continue to bemoan that their rights to practice their religion are being attacked. It’s a load of crap.
Let’s see if those who post here and bemoan that Christians are being attacked because of some well-helled chicken man’s intolerance of people who are not like him and them, defend people who are truly decimated by hatred like those at this Sikh temple who are not Christians. .
Thank you, newdeal, for sharing your stories. On two occasions you’ve been much closer to acts of terrorism than most of us will ever know. And I am in full agreement: “we must talk about these things.”
Glancing at some comment sections at various news sites, I wasn’t surprised to see how quickly what was “talked about” was gun control / right to bear arms … the same arguments we hear everytime something like this happens. The victims, those killed and wounded, much too often become almost secondary to another round of the same arguments.
Talking about the people who are the victims is too often avoided.
Correction:
It sees to me the legislation introduced by NY Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney who lost her husband and her son was permanently disabled because of Colin Ferguson in 1993 must be passed by Congress.
“We must talk about these things. Sweeping them under cover is not the answer. If not now, when?”
Yes…that is… or was suppose to be the “gist” of my comment…but that’s what happens when you hit the “submit” button too soon…..a great misunderstanding of communication. I don’t have any real answers either…how we got here…or why we as a nation have arrived at this point…the regular occuring public mass murder of ordinary people from the ages of 8 to 80, by ordinary people!
I only know that the voices of those concerned are not tolerated by main stream medias…and as quickly as possible their goal for the public is to “Cover, Report, Forget…Cover, Report, Forget”!
So I say again Yes…we should make d#*n sure we keep the concern alive!
“I only know that the voices of those concerned are not tolerated by main stream media” — very well said. Along with ,”we should make d#*n sure we keep the concern alive!”
The horror that is 21st century America continues…….no words can convey the sadness and anger that once again innocent people going about their daily lives have been destroyed by the insanity of the sexual/fetishist obsession this country has with making sure dangerous, crazed individuals have unhindered access to weapons of mass destruction/guns.
It continues, and I can’t see an end to it.
I wish I could say I am suprised that a terrible, horrible, tragedy happened but I am not anymore and thats the sad part. Too many shootings have took place in this country and has killed large groups of people. My heart goes out to the families and I am sad to know that more will happen I really hope not, but thats just not the reality that were living in. Anytime any lawmaker dares speak about gun control, the NRA throws a fit and the lawmaker is scared to say anything and backs off. In other countries especially in Europe, if a tragedy shooting happens the country is in disbelief, over here its like “all no, not again” How sad. Again I am so sorry to the families and I fear for the rest of this year and years to come.
I’ve heard that expressed several times today, the wish that this kind of thing happening could be a surprise.
As more comes out it looks more and more like the right, Limbaugh, ORielly and faux not news can claim a victory as another stupid white hate filled psycho with a 9/11 tattoo went to kill some A-rabs and MUslims…to stupid to even target the objects of his hate…but hey, they wuz wearin TURBANS they MUSTA been somma them rag heads huh?