Sikh temple shooting suspect identified as Wade Michael Page; Motivation unclear
Last updated 4:16 p.m. ET
© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(CBS/AP) OAK CREEK, Wis. - The gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin before being shot to death by police was identified Monday as a 40-year-old Army veteran and former leader of a white supremacist heavy metal band.
The mug shot handed out by the FBI of the suspect Wade Michael Page after a press conference on the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin where a gunman fired upon people at service August, 6, 2012 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
/ CBS/FBI via Getty ImagesWade Michael Page strode into the temple carrying a 9mm handgun and multiple magazines of ammunition and opened fire without saying a word, authorities said.
When the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee ended, six victims ranging in age from 39 to 84 years old lay dead. Three others were critically wounded.
According to sources in the Army, Page enlisted in April 1992 and was a repairmen for the Hawk missile system before switching jobs to become one of the Army's psychological operations specialists assigned to a battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C.
As a psyops specialist, Page would have trained to host public meeting between locals and American forces, use leaflet campaigns in a conflict zone or use loudspeakers to communicate with enemy soldiers.
He never deployed overseas while serving in that role, Pentagon spokesman George Wright said.
Page was demoted in June 1998 for getting drunk while on duty and going AWOL, two defense officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information about the gunmen.
Page also received extra duty and was fined. The defense officials said they had no other details about the incident, such as how long Page was gone or whether he turned himself in.
Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the nonprofit civil rights organization in Montgomery, Ala., said Page had been on the white-power music scene for more than a decade, playing in bands known as Definite Hate and End Apathy.
"The name of the band seems to reflect what he went out and actually did," said Potok. The music often includes lyrics that discuss genocide against Jews and other minorities.
In a 2010 interview, Page told a white supremacist website that he became active in white-power music in 2000, when he left his native Colorado and started the band End Apathy in 2005.
He told the website his "inspiration was based on frustration that we have the potential to accomplish so much more as individuals and a society in whole," according to the law center. He did not mention violence.
End Apathy's MySpace page said the group was based in Nashville, N.C.
Wade was killed outside the temple in a shootout with police officers after the rampage that left terrified congregants hiding in closets and others texting friends outside for help.
Officials had previously described the suspect as a heavy-set, 40-year-old Caucasian with numerous tattoos.
Sources tell CBS News some unspecified evidence suggests race or ethnicity may have played a role in the violence, but no links to extremist groups have been confirmed.
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Local police called the attack an act of domestic terrorism, but other sources tell CBS News correspondent Bob Orr it may be more accurate to refer to "an investigation into a possible hate crime."
Neither local nor federal sources provided further details or suggested a possible motive, including whether the suspect specifically targeted the Sikh temple.
The bodies of the victims are with the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, reports CBS Affiliate WDJT. Autopsies will be performed today.
Late Sunday, the investigation appeared to move beyond the temple as police, federal agents and the county sheriff's bomb squad swarmed a neighborhood in nearby Cudahy, evacuating several homes and searching a duplex. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Tom Ahern said warrants were being served at the home of the gunman.
Records show that Page was the registered inhabitant at an apartment in South Milwaukee from December 2011 until the present.
CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports Page is only believed to have lived at the residence for two weeks, according to neighbors.
"Nobody has really seen him," neighbor Alma Rayes tells CBS News. "We heard here and there that they've been doing a lot of arguing, between him and another female, but I haven't seen him."
Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting
"He did not speak, he just began shooting," said Harpreet Singh, relaying a description of the attack from the wife of his uncle, temple president Satwant Singh Kaleka.
Singh said Satpal Kaleka told him she was in the front room when the shooter walked in. She said the 6-foot-tall bald white man — who worshippers said they had never before seen at the temple — seemed like he had a purpose and knew where he was going.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said police expected to release more information Monday. He said the FBI will lead the investigation because the shootings are being treated as domestic terrorism, or an attack that originated inside the U.S.
"While the FBI is investigating whether this matter might be an act of domestic terrorism, no motive has been determined at this time," Teresa Carlson, Special Agent in Charge with the agency's Milwaukee division, said in a statement Sunday night.
Edwards said the gunman "ambushed" one of the first officers to arrive at the temple as the officer, a 20-year veteran with tactical experience, tended to a victim outside. A second officer then exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was fatally shot. Police had earlier said the officer who was shot killed the suspected shooter.
Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs are not Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.
Even though the gunman's motives were a mystery Sunday, Kaur said the shootings reopened wounds in a community whose members have found themselves frequent targets of hate-based attacks since Sept. 11.
"We are experiencing it as a hate crime," she said. "Every Sikh American today is hurting, grieving and afraid."
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The SIRIUS movie was funded by the people, for the people, and based on these recent events it would seem Dr. Greer and the Amaradeep Kaleka have been warned and threatened not to release the film.
I'm suggesting the "shooter" was somehow instructed/forced by the "powers that be" to commit this awful crime as a warning to Amardeep not to follow through with the SIRIUS Documentary. What's more is the media has actually twisted the real story in a way no one can deny. It's likely if you turned on any news report or read any articles relating to this event the blame has been put on one shooter, Wade Michael Page. Then why does Armadeep's cousin (who was there during the shooting) in an interview with the Associated Press tell us that there were not only one shoot, but rather "Four Males Dressed in ALL Black Clothing" who came into the temple and opened fire. (find that video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ecdSKi9_fs).
The fact that one of the targets was Amardeep's father, should at least raise eyebrows to the possibility that this was a coordinated attack and a threat to Armadeep, Dr.Greer and SIRIUS by the powers that be. Yes the violence and racial discrimination has to end, but so does the military/government deception surrounding the issues revealed in Sirius. Send your prayers and love to the families and friends of the deceased, but also open your eyes to the bigger picture here.
Your country seems to have more problems with shootings and racism than others. It's 2012 and America is still living in ancient times where everyone is running around shooting each other.
"We need food, water..."
Speaking of water, I think there may be something in yours. Besides the jet fuel and nuclear waste. : )
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Coming from someone who lives in a country where up 70% of the prisons are filled with the aboriginal (native Americans here) people. Percentage wise make black Americans in prisons look like a minority... Where there is well documented genocide of the aboriginal people by Canadians. Sure I'm guessing your press doesn't cover your issue and that's why you have the holier than thou ugly Canadian comments???
Well, then, stop eating, kkltr.
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LOL! Awesome comeback!
Bye Y'all! Have a good evening! : )
It is obviously a case of religious bigotry.
More people are killed every day for their religion than any other reason. Lately it seems to be mostly Christians being killed, but apparently this was a national socialist with some reason for hating Sikhs.
The headlines here say "motivation unclear". And, the photo claims the national socialist shooter was "frustrated".
If a neo-nazi goes to a large gathering of South Asians and shoots them, then it's probably racism.
As an aside, to those who keep up with this 'he must be a Dem' business, Which of the presidential candidates do you suppose this nutcase voted for in 2008? In 2004? In 2000? I rest my case.
which are the complete and total domain of the Democrat party!
The "frustrated" description is obviously code for his homosexual tendencies by this avowed national "socialist"!!!
How exactly is reading the votes that Congress made, one by one, being brainwashed? Hmm?? You can look up every vote made for Civil Rights, and the answers are right there, in black and white. I can see you choose not to believe the facts and the truth though. So go ahead and hide from it. Lie to yourself. But the truth is there. GO READ IT..and actually learn something.
The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Acts of '64 and '65 only passed because of the Republicans.; Only 27% of Democrats supported it. 94% of Republicans did. That is FACT.
http://www.black-and-right.com/the-democrat-race-lie/
April 16, 1862
President Lincoln signs bill abolishing slavery in District of Columbia; in Congress, 99% of Republicans vote yes, 83% of Democrats vote no
July 17, 1862
Over unanimous Democrat opposition, Republican Congress passes Confiscation Act stating that slaves of the Confederacy "shall be forever free"
January 31, 1865
13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. House with unanimous Republican support, intense Democrat opposition
April 8, 1865
13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. Senate with 100% Republican support, 63% Democrat opposition
November 22, 1865
Republicans denounce Democrat legislature of Mississippi for enacting "black codes," which institutionalized racial discrimination
February 5, 1866
U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA) introduces legislation, successfully opposed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, to implement "40 acres and a mule" relief by distributing land to former slaves
April 9, 1866
Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Johnson's veto; Civil Rights Act of 1866, conferring rights of citizenship on African-Americans, becomes law
May 10, 1866
U.S. House passes Republicans' 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the laws to all citizens; 100% of Democrats vote no
June 8, 1866
U.S. Senate passes Republicans' 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all citizens; 94% of Republicans vote yes and 100% of Democrats vote no
January 8, 1867
Republicans override Democrat President Andrew Johnson's veto of law granting voting rights to African-Americans in D.C.
July 19, 1867
Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson's veto of legislation protecting voting rights of African-Americans
March 30, 1868
Republicans begin impeachment trial of Democrat President Andrew Johnson, who declared: "This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government of white men"
September 12, 1868
Civil rights activist Tunis Campbell and 24 other African-Americans in Georgia Senate, every one a Republican, expelled by Democrat majority; would later be reinstated by Republican Congress
October 7, 1868
Republicans denounce Democratic Party's national campaign theme: "This is a white man's country: Let white men rule"
October 22, 1868
While campaigning for re-election, Republican U.S. Rep. James Hinds (R-AR) is assassinated by Democrat terrorists who organized as the Ku Klux Klan
December 10, 1869
Republican Gov. John Campbell of Wyoming Territory signs FIRST-in-nation law granting women right to vote and to hold public office
February 3, 1870
After passing House with 98% Republican support and 97% Democrat opposition, Republicans' 15th Amendment is ratified, granting vote to all Americans regardless of race
May 31, 1870
President U.S. Grant signs Republicans' Enforcement Act, providing stiff penalties for depriving any American's civil rights
June 22, 1870
Republican Congress creates U.S. Department of Justice, to safeguard the civil rights of African-Americans against Democrats in the South
September 6, 1870
Women vote in Wyoming, in FIRST election after women's suffrage signed into law by Republican Gov. John Campbell
February 28, 1871
Republican Congress passes Enforcement Act providing federal protection for African-American voters
April 20, 1871
Republican Congress enacts the Ku Klux Klan Act, outlawing Democratic Party-affiliated terrorist groups which oppressed African-Americans
http://www.black-and-right.com/the-democrat-race-lie/
And let's not forget the words of liberal icon Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood...
We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population....
So go ahead and say what you want about it. The votes are very clear by the Democrats.
http://www.black-and-right.com/the-democrat-race-lie/
There is absolutely no truth to anything you have just posted including that you are a fiscal conservative since you are the most straight party line Democrat ever to post here.
This horrific incident is one of many around the world today where such questions are answered. People take their fear based ignorance too far, to the point of killing innocent people. And all of you, every last one of you, who have written here that "liberals do this.." and "conservatives are that..." are simply perpetuating the problem. Whether in defense or attack in the name of your side, the very act of engaging in the behavior in which you are choosing to take part is the very root of the problem.
We are all humans first. We have the exact same physiology. Our brain's and body's autonomic features function the exact same way with no exceptions. We need food, water, and the company of other humans. It is that simple. And until we see each other this way first, and find our differences secondary to that, we will continue to perpetuate this hatred that is derrived in fear based ignorance. Turn the finger around, and point it squarely at yourselves.