Seven Killed in Shooting at US Sikh Temple

Posted August 5th, 2012 at 7:25 pm (UTC-5)
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Seven people have been killed and three wounded in a shooting at a Sikh temple in the northern U.S. state of Wisconsin, in what the local police chief called a “domestic terrorist-type incident.” The gunman was among the dead.

Police say four people were found dead inside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, located in the suburbs of Milwaukee, on Sunday morning. Three others, including the gunman, were killed outside the temple.

Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said a responding officer exchanged gunfire with the gunman and killed him. He says the FBI is involved because the federal agency has the resources to handle an investigation into “a domestic terrorist-type incident.”

Details about the dead suspect were not immediately released.

The incident left three men wounded, including a police officer. Officials say one man sustained wounds to the face, another man to the neck, and a third to the chest and abdomen.

President Barack Obama said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the shooting, adding that the country has been “enriched” by the Sikh community.

He called the governor of Wisconsin, the mayor of the town and the trustee of the Sikh temple to express his condolences.

The Indian embassy in Washington says it has dispatched an Indian diplomat to visit the temple.

Sunday's shooting came just more than two weeks after an attack in Colorado. In that incident, James Holmes has been charged with killing 12 people and wounded 58 others at a July 20 midnight screening of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.