There isn't a whole lot of news today but I'm catching up on some old articles. I found two that were especially interesting and touching to read. Also, the 911 tapes were released yesterday. I'll post the story of the 911 tapes at the end.
Disparate heroes in Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting
They couldn't have come from two more different worlds: One of them, Lt. Brian Murphy, a classic New York-style cop with more than two decades on the streets. The other, Satwant Singh Kaleka, a deeply religious native of India who came to the U.S. as an impoverished immigrant and made his way up buying gas stations.
Yet here they were, both cut to the ground and shedding blood at different parts of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Sunday. Both had come up against the gunman whose murderous path ultimately left six people dead. Murphy was armed with a police weapon, Kaleka with a butter knife. Both paid dearly, Kaleka with his life, Murphy nearly so — he lies critically wounded in a hospital, but is expected to survive.
After Sikh temple shooting, a healing act
Hundreds of Americans of all walks of life attended a memorial service Friday for the six Sikhs killed in Oak Creek, Wis. The public gathering was a touching reminder of not only common grief for a violent attack on one faith, but also America’s commitment to the freedom of religion.
“An attack on one religion is an attack on all religions,” said Rabbi David Saperstein, who heads up the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Embracing that freedom remains a constant task in the United States and elsewhere. Last month, for example, a mosque in Joplin, Mo., was burned down in a “suspicious” fire. And a legal challenge continues against a new mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. American Muslims, far more than Sikhs, have had to be on guard against attacks since 9/11.
Sikh temple shooting 911 tapes have audible gunfire; dispatcher utters ‘oh my god’ amid calls
The woman’s voice is hushed, but even in her whisper her terror is evident. In a barely audible voice she gives the 911 dispatcher the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin’s address and pleads, “Hurry up, please.”
The dispatcher already has fielded enough calls to surmise there’s a shooter at the temple in suburban Milwaukee. She reassures the woman, “We’ve got help on the way. OK? OK? Ma’am?”
There’s no reply.