Sikh temple killer shot himself dead, FBI reveals

Published on 09/08/2012 00:00

The gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple in the United States died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after he was shot by police, the FBI announced yesterday.

FBI special agent Teresa Carlson told a news conference that investigators have not yet “clearly defined a motive” for Sunday’s shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

Authorities previously said an officer had fired the shot that killed gunman Wade Michael Page.

Ms Carlson said federal officials had not opened any investigation into Page before the shooting, adding that investigators were now interviewing dozens of people who have known Page as they worked to determine for a possible motive.

Authorities have not identified anyone other than Page as being responsible for the attack, while members of the temple have said it had never received any threats.

“We just want to get to the bottom of what motivated him to do it,” said Amardeep Singh, an executive with the New York-based Sikh Coalition. “It’s important to acknowledge why they lost their lives.”

The Southern Poverty Law Centre has described Page as a “frustrated neo-Nazi” who was part of the white-power music scene, playing in bands called Definite Hate and End Apathy.

Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, said even though Page was dead, other white-supremacy groups could have similar intentions. “Our concern is, how do we tackle these hate groups operating underground?” he said.