Shooting at Oak Creek Sikh Temple

Details still sketchy at this point.  We know seven are dead, includ­ing the shooter.

A police offi­cer who con­fronted the shooter is in surgery.  Thoughts and prayers are all we can offer at the moment.

One thing’s for cer­tain for many in the Mil­wau­kee area — includ­ing me — that the loca­tion of this for this shoot­ing will make for some inter­est­ing thoughts going through your head for that next trip to Woodman’s.

Here’s the state­ment from Gov. Walker’s office:

While the sit­u­a­tion in Oak Creek con­tin­ues to develop rapidly, we are work­ing with the FBI and local law enforce­ment.  I became aware of the sit­u­a­tion late this morn­ing and con­tinue to receive updated briefings.

Our hearts go out to the vic­tims and their fam­i­lies, as we all strug­gle to com­pre­hend the evil that begets this ter­ri­ble violence.

At the same time, we are filled with grat­i­tude for our first respon­ders, who show brav­ery and self­less­ness as they put aside their own safety to pro­tect our neigh­bors and friends.

Tonette and I ask every­one to join us in pray­ing for the vic­tims and their fam­i­lies, pray­ing for the safety of our law enforce­ment and first respon­der pro­fes­sion­als and pray­ing for strength and heal­ing for this entire com­mu­nity and our state. 

 UPDATE — In a state­ment, Pres­i­dent Obama has said he is “deeply sad­dened” by the events in Oak Creek.  (Look­ing for full statement)

Full state­ment:

Michelle and I were deeply sad­dened to learn of the shoot­ing that trag­i­cally took so many lives in Wis­con­sin. At this dif­fi­cult time, the peo­ple of Oak Creek must know that the Amer­i­can peo­ple have them in our thoughts and prayers, and our hearts go out to the fam­i­lies and friends of those who were killed and wounded. My Admin­is­tra­tion will pro­vide what­ever sup­port is nec­es­sary to the offi­cials who are respond­ing to this tragic shoot­ing and mov­ing for­ward with an inves­ti­ga­tion. As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of wor­ship, we are reminded how much our coun­try has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader Amer­i­can family.

UPDATE II — State from the Rom­ney Campaign:

“Ann and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the vic­tims of today’s shoot­ing in Wis­con­sin. This was a sense­less act of vio­lence and a tragedy that should never befall any house of wor­ship. Our hearts are with the vic­tims, their fam­i­lies, and the entire Oak Creek Sikh com­mu­nity. We join Amer­i­cans every­where in mourn­ing those who lost their lives and in prayer for heal­ing in the dif­fi­cult days ahead.”

UPDATE III — As of 4 PM brief­ing, the num­bers now are 7 dead (includ­ing the shooter), and 3 are injured.  The next brief­ing is set for tomor­row at 10 AM CT.

Also, the FBI is head­ing the inves­ti­ga­tion and it has been ruled a “Domes­tic Ter­ror­ism” case, which appears to have a wider def­i­n­i­tion than any of us every fig­ured it to have.

Finally, we have clar­i­fi­ca­tion on the police offi­cer who was shot.  One offi­cer arrived on scene, attended a wounded vic­tim and was ambushed by the shooter.  His part­ner or another arriv­ing offi­cer came on the scene, con­fronted, shot, and killed the assailant.

Reports of a sec­ond, or mul­ti­ple shoot­ers appear to be too early to confirm.

Be Socia­ble, Share!

•