Valley's Sikh community reeling from weekend shooting spree - KMSP-TV

There is new information about the man who opened fire at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin over the weekend.

Seven people were killed, including the gunman, and now detectives believe the shooter has ties to white supremacists.

Police say 40-year-old Wade Michael Page walked into the temple on Sunday and began shooting.

Six people died, three others were critically wounded, including the first officer who arrived on scene.

Investigators now say that page was a former soldier who was discharged for "patterns of misconduct." He was even caught for being drunk while on duty.

Some civil rights organizations listed Page as a "neo-Nazi" who led a "skinhead" rock band.

Meantime, the shooting has rocked this Sikh community in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Sikhs all across the country say they're targets of attacks because of the way they look. You may remember Balbir Sodhi.

He was shot and killed outside a Mesa store shortly after 9/11 because he was wearing a turban.

We spoke with local Sikhs here in the valley to see what they're doing in light of this recent shooting.

The news is really hitting the local community hard. Today, members of the Sikh community spent the day making preparations for a vigil to honor the victims and their families.

Rana Singh Sodhi and two other members of the Sikh community settled on Cesar Chavez Plaza to hold a community vigil. Singh Sodhi lost his brother to a hate crime right after 9/11.

"Still happening 11 years past 9/11, people still taking our turban as a target, still very painful," says Rana Singh Sodhi.

It's been an emotional 24 hours for his entire community. When news broke of the shooting, he says he broke down.

"You lost somebody with hate somebody took someone's life with hate, because you don't like turban, you don't like dress, he don't like skin color."

Wade Michael Page's name is familiar to the Anti-Defamation League because of his ties to a white power music band called "End Apathy" and a skinhead group called the "Hammerskins."

"Anyone who's not white and of western European descent is a possible target of the Hammerskins," says Bill Straus, Anti-Defamation League.

Straus says the group has had a longstanding presence throughout the country, and has even made appearances here locally.

"Back in the early 90s they were the first and most visible and most extremist hate group to march down our street in Phoenix, Arizona Central Avenue."

Meanwhile back at Cesar Chavez Plaza, Singh Sodhi says it's been difficult trying to explain to children how something like this could happen in a place of worship. Despite the pain, he remains hopeful.

"I believe in America and the community, it can be stopped one day, it's going to be stopped one day."

Singh Sodhi's daughter is involved in a peer program at school educating other students about the Sikh community. That vigil is expected to be held Thursday at Cesar Chavez Plaza at 7:30, pending approval by the city.