US gurudwara shooter's motive unknown, say police

Wisconsin: The investigation that was initiated into the massacre in a gurudwara in Wisconsin in the USA where six people were killed before the gunman, Michael Page, was shot dead has not yet revealed the motive behind the killings. According to the police, no tell-tale writings or note was left behind by the 40-year-old ex-army veteran.

However, Page's friends and former boss revealed that he was a regular at hate events and even said he was planning to quit his job to join the far-right group Klu Klux Klan.

Civil Rights groups in the US want the incident to be investigated as a hate crime.

The FBI has said that it wasn't monitoring Page but he is mentioned in the FBI case files dating back to 2005 - the nature of those cases though are not known.

Local media reports said that the shooter's former girlfriend may face charges of possessing a weapon and may be arrested.

Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao has tweeted saying she had met the families of two victims in Oak Creek. The families of the other victims will be flown to Wisconsin for the last rites on Wednesday.

Locals in Wisconsin held a candlelight vigil for the third night in a row.

Page had bought the gun on July 28 at the Shooters Shop in Wisconsin, and picked it up two days later. He even used the shop's shooting range at some point.

According to the police, he had recently separated from his girlfriend, but had given her no indication of a possible attack. His friend, however, told CNN that he had talked about racial cleansing and holy war.

However, Page's stepmother Laura Lynn claimed that he was not a racist and she did not know what changed her son. While speaking to CNN, Lynn said, "What has changed him I have no idea and obviously we're never going to know. He had hispanic friends and he had black friends."

Reacting to the incident, US President Barack Obama warned that such events were on rise saying it was time for some soul searching. Obama said, "All of us recognise that these kinds of terrible, tragic events are happening with too much regularity. It is time for soul-searching and we need to think of ways to stop reduce violence."

Union External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who spoke to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, called for safety to be provided cutting across religious denominations.

"An assurance to the Indian community has to come out from the Obama administration that their interests are going to be quite safe. I have also suggested to Secretary Clinton that the places of worship in America, cutting across religious denominations, must be given full protection," said Krishna.

Meanwhile, Sikhs in Wisconsin came together after the deadly shooting to honour the dead. A special ceremony was held to pray for the victims of the deadly shooting in Oak Creek.

However, it was also underlined at the ceremony that the need was to make people aware of the culture and belief of Sikhism.

The ceremony was attended by several such people as well who were present at the gurudwara when the deadly shooting took place. They said that the entire Sikh community was in mourning.