Thaindian News

Washington, Aug 6 (IANS) A shooting at a Sikh gurudwara (temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee, Sunday, left six persons dead and one gunman killed by a police officer, according to authorities.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel cited Greenfield, Wisconsin, Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt as telling reporters that four of the deceased are inside the temple and three deceased outside, including the shooter.

As reports of the firing came in, the Indian Embassy here got in touch with the National Security Council in Washington and deputed an official to visit the site to ascertain the situation on-the-spot.

The Embassy is seized of the situation and has been in touch with the NSC, it said in a statement. “Our Consulate General in Chicago too has been in close touch with the local authorities to monitor the situation.”

Oak Creek police received multiple calls about the shooting. When the police officer, a 20-year law enforcement veteran, arrived at the scene, he and the shooter exchanged multiple rounds and the officer was shot multiple times, Wentlandt said.

The officer was wounded but “returned fire, and that shooter was put down,” Wentlandt, told reporters.

He is in surgery and his condition is not known. The shooter is “down at the scene and is presumed deceased,” Wentlandt added.

He called it “an ongoing and very fluid situation”.

“At this time, we don’t know if there are additional shooters inside the temple,” he said. SWAT teams were combing through the temple, he said.

Some people are believed to be trapped inside, and at least one gunman may still be inside, Alderman Dan Jakubczyk told CNN. “As far as I know, it is still an active situation,” Jakubczyk said.

Members of the police SWAT team have begun removing the injured from the temple’s prayer room, the Journal-Sentinel reported.

Among those shot was Satwant Kaleka, president of the temple, Greenfield, Wisconsin, Wentlandt told the Journal-Sentinel.

–Indo-Asian News Service
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