One Year Since Deadly Sikh Temple Attack in Wisconsin

By Sean Lewis
Published on WGN Chicago.

In the rain, the community of Oak Creek Wisconsin came together, remembering the tragedy here one year ago.

To this day, no one knows why gunman, white supremacist and army veteran wade Michael Page walked into the Sikh Temple on a Sunday morning and began to shoot.  He killed six people and injured many others before he shot and killed himself.

“This is not just a Sikh tragedy, this is an American tragedy,” Filmmaker Valarie Kaur has spent the last year talking with the victims and their families.

She is now working on a second documentary about the lessons that came out of the shooting here.

“The young people, the families of Oak Creek embodied the spirit of resilience– and our community together, including these young people, prayed for the soul of the gunman who committed such atrocity.”

Kamaljit Saini, the son of one of shooting victim Paramjit Kaur, said “We can overcome these tragedies of hate into love.”

It’s a message that we heard in the hours after the shooting last year, from the families of the victims and one still being repeated one year later.

“To show people that a tragedy like this that there is a light at the end of the tunnel that no matter what happens our faith will stay united it only with the Sikh religion but of all faiths in Oak Creek ,” Saini said.