A man holds his child during a candle light vigil for the victims of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin shooting in Milwaukee Sunday, Aug 5, 2012. An unidentified gunman killed six people at the suburban Milwaukee temple on Sunday in a rampage that left terrified congregants hiding in closets and others texting friends outside for help. The suspect was killed outside the temple in a shootout with police officers. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)DINESH RAMDE and TODD RICHMOND
OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) – As worshipers prayed and meditated at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Sunday morning, about a dozen women were preparing food in the temple kitchen for a meal after services which are open to community members, regardless of religious affiliation.
Then the shooting started, sending terrified congregants scrambling for cover.
When the gunfire finally ended in a shootout between a gunman and police outside the temple in suburban Milwaukee, seven people lay dead, including the suspect, and three others were critically wounded in what police called an act of domestic terrorism.
Satpal Kaleka, wife of the temple’s president, Satwant Singh Kaleka, was in the front room and saw the gunman enter the temple, according to Harpreet Singh, their nephew.