Gunman in Sikh Temple Shooting ID'ed as Former Army Soldier

By Newsroom America Staff at 6 Aug 2012

(Newsroom America) -- The gunman who shot and killed six people and critically wounded a police officer at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., Sunday has been identified as a 40-year-old former U.S. Army soldier, reports said Monday.

Fox News reported that the alleged shooter, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with he wounded police officer, is Wade Michael Page, who was attached to a unit at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina at one time.

"Local authorities have scheduled a 10 a.m. press conference, where more details may emerge about Page and what the FBI is treating as an act of domestic terrorism in the temple, in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek," Fox News reported.

CNN also reported that the alleged shooter has been identified as Page.

Sources said Page, who was heavily tattooed, may have been a white supremacist, but those reports have yet to be confirmed. The FBI is continuing to investigate the possible link.

So far, authorities have not established a motive for the shootings, which also left two other people critically injured.

Tom Ahern, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the gunman had a military background but would not elaborate. He also did not elaborate on the man's tattoos.

Sikh men, because of their beards and turbans, have often been confused with being Muslims.

Sikhism, the world's fifth most popular religion, is a monotheistic faith that believes in equality and service to others, Sikh officials told CNN.

"Everyone is the same," Raghunandan Johar, president of the Guru Nanak Mission of Atlanta, said. "There is no distinction, no caste system."

Navdeep Singh, a policy adviser to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, added that Sikhs believe in freedom of religion, community service and inclusiveness.

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