I'd like to make once-daily posts on this for anyone who wants to follow along with updates on what is going on. I have to do this when I have some free time so the times I can do this may not be consistent but I'll try to make the posts after any scheduled press conferences so I can get the most recent information. Any of these posts will be heavy in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel links as I've found that they consistently offer the most comprehensive coverage and the other media tends to just rehash what the Journal already covered.
So here's what has gone down since early yesterday afternoon. As most people probably know by now, 7 people were killed, including the shooter. 3 people, including a police officer, were injured and are at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. This is a great hospital that is a part of a medical complex including the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin. All patients will receive the best care available in Wisconsin at this facility.
An article about the victims. This also includes a graphical timeline of the events and map/diagram of the area and the temple itself.
Satwant Kaleka died in the temple he helped build.
When a gunman opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek on Sunday, Kaleka tried to attack the shooter outside of the temple, his son said. Wounded in his lower extremities, Kaleka, 65, made it inside, hid with others in a room, and died there.
"It was like a second home to him," Amardeep Kaleka said of his father's love for the temple. "He was the kind of person who, if he got a call that a bulb was out at 2 a.m., he'd go over to change it."
Lahwinder Singh, a member of the community, said the president "brought everyone together. He just wanted to make a good temple, a good community."
A Journal Sentinel profile of the Sikh faith. It also touches on reactions from other Milwaukee-area faith communities.
"Sikhism is such a peaceful religion," said Ben Boba Ri, a leader of the Oak Creek temple where seven people, including a gunman, were killed on Sunday.
"It's so sad," he said, putting his hand over his eyes to shield his tears. "I don't know how to describe it."
The members of Milwaukee's Sikh community are among 20 million adherents of the world's fifth-largest faith, a monotheistic religion that stresses the equality of mankind, nonviolence and tolerance for other faiths.
Police have searched the home of the shooter. Obviously, exercising extreme caution to ensure their safety and the safety of neighbors.
The FBI says it doesn't yet have a motive. Temple members say they know the motive. Of course, the FBI has to take time to examine the evidence before declaring it for good reason.
The shooter has been (unofficially, at the time I'm adding this link to the post) identified. A white supremacist who the Southern Poverty Law Center has been tracking.
The shooter in the deadly attack Sunday at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek was identified as Wade Michael Page, 40, sources familiar with the shooting investigation said Monday.
He served in the Army for several years and was assigned to psychological operations, or PsyOps, according to the sources.
He is no longer in the Army.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that has studied hate crimes for decades, reported Monday that Page was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band known as End Apathy.
From today's press conference, not a whole lot of new information. The biggest news would be that they are looking for a "person of interest".
At a news conference at 10 a.m., authorities said there were attempting to identify another person, a white male, who they described as "a person of interest."
A man matching the photo officials showed was seen by Journal Sentinel reporters at the scene of the temple Sunday, possibly video taping what was going on. Anyone with information on the man is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Other than that, the names of victims, including the officer who was shot, has been released. A few more details about the shooter and that's about it.
Let's all keep in our thoughts:
Lt. Brian Murphy, 51, an experienced member of the department's tactical unit.
Murphy was a finalist for the Oak Creek police chief post in 2010 and has 21 years with the department
Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the temple president, was killed Sunday after attempting to tackle the gunman.
Oak Creek Police identified the other victims Monday as Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; Prakash Singh, 39; Paramjit Kaur, 41; and Suveg Singh, 84.
Finally,
an article from the San Francisco Chronicle about violence against the Sikhs. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that the people who would do this kind of thing wouldn't take the time to know the difference between Muslims and Sikhs.
Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Sikh Coalition of Washington has reported more than 700 incidents in the United States since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs don't practice the same religion as Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.
1:40 PM PT: Thanks to Short Bus for pointing out that, this afternoon, the FBI announced that the person of interest was not involved.