Sikhs express shock at temple shootings

Activists of the National Akali Dal shout anti-US slogans during a protest in New Delhi yesterday, after a gunman in the US shot dead seven worshippers at a suburban Sikh temple in Wisconsin, USA.Photo: AFP

Sikhs living in the United States have expressed their shock and fear after a shooting at a temple in Wisconsin on Sunday which left seven people dead.
Some community members could not believe what happened. Others said they had feared such attacks since 9/11.
A gunman entered the Sikh temple on Sunday morning and opened fire, killing six people and injuring a policeman.
The suspect has been named as Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old army veteran, in US media reports.
But his identity has not been independently confirmed to the BBC.
A vigil for the victims was held in nearby Milwaukee as police searched the suspect's home.
FBI and bomb squad officers have surrounded the property of the alleged gunman in Cudahy, about 2.5 miles north of the Wisconsin Sikh Temple, and evacuated local residents.
In total, seven people died in the attack in Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee, including the gunman. A police officer and two other men were critically injured.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is himself a Sikh, said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the attack.
"That this senseless act of violence should be targeted at a place of religious worship is particularly painful," Singh said in a statement.
Officials have not yet identified the gunman or a possible motive, but Sikh organisations in the US say the community has been vulnerable since the 9/11 attacks.