Fairfield Sikh Temple President Says Milwaukee Temple Shooting Shocking

Fairfield Sikh temple president Manjit Purewal has plenty of questions but little answers to the motive behind a mass shooting at a Milwaukee Sikh temple Sunday morning that left seven dead and three injured.

“This is shocking,” he said. “That goes without saying. Why did it happen?”

“When incidents like that have happened in the past, it’s a case of mistaken identity,” said Purewal, who was referring to cases in the past where Sikhs have been identified as a terrorists for donning a turban and having a beard like Osama Bin Laden.

“The Sikh don’t share anything with Bin Laden and his terrorists,” Purewal said. “We are from India, we are Sikhs. It’s a different faith altogether.”

According to CNN, a law enforcement source said the suspect, who was killed at the temple, “was an Army veteran who may have been a white supremacist.”

A Milwaukee temple member told CNN that the shooter was a bald, white man dressed in a white shirt and black pants with a 9/11 tattoo on one arm.

Purewal learned of the shooting as he was driving to the temple Sunday.

“I checked it on my iPhone and realized the gravity of it,” he said.

Fairfield temple members who learned of the incident were shocked and confused, Purewal said.

“We made prayers asking for peace and for the good of humanity, even for the good of who did these shootings,” he said. “We embrace in our prayers not any particular sect or faith, but the whole of humanity.”

Purewal wanted to know why the shooter went into a place of worship. He feels that communities as a whole should learn more about Sikh culture.

“What I’d like to see, is there enough being done in our communities . . . to educate people?” he said.

Purewal said Fairfield’s Sikh temple has a great relationship with Fairfield Police and Solano County officials overall, but added there’s room for improvement.

“Some people don’t even know there’s a Sikh temple in Fairfield, and those who come say ‘wow, we didn’t know this is you culture,’” he said. “They see us in a very positive way.”

Purewal said there was a member of the Fairfield temple who knew someone in Milwaukee, but there were no members in Fairfield that knew any of the victims. Purewal said that the distance between the Fairfield and Milwaukee hasn’t made a difference in linking the two temples after the tragedy.

“You don’t have to have contacts with the temple in Milwaukee,” he said. “Temple is a temple. The community always, at a time like this, is in harmony and feels close together. Incidents like this pull community together. As a temple what can we do? The main thing I can suggest is we introspect. Are we doing the right things so it should not happen?”