At least eight people, including four Sikhs, were killed and five others injured Mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indiana, USAaccording to information from community leaders.
The gunman, identified as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana, died of suicide after the shooting early Friday morning and claimed nine victims.
About 90 percent of the workers on this delivery service are said to be Native Americans, mostly from the local Sikh community.
“This is very heartbreaking. The Sikh community is devastated by this tragic incident,” said community leader Gurinder Singh Khalsa PTI over the phone after meeting family members of the FedEx facility staff.
Maninder Singh Walia, community activist, said the four Sikhs who died were Amarjt Kaur Sekhon (female), 48, Jaswinder Kaur (female), Amarjit Kaur Johal (female) and Jaswinder Singh (male). The ages of the last three deceased were not immediately available.
Harpreet Singh Gill (male), 45, injured himself near him and is being hospitalized. Indianapolis Police have not yet released the names of those killed in the mass shootings.
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris expressed condolences for the tragic murders.
“Vice President Harris and I were informed by our Homeland Security team of the mass shootings at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, where a lone gunman killed eight people and wounded several others in the dark of night,” Biden said in a statement.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s visit to the White House at the start of his bilateral meeting expressed condolences to the victims and condolences to the families.
“Innocent citizens should not be exposed to such violence. Freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law are the universal values that bind and dominate the Indo-Pacific, ”he said.
Biden issued a proclamation in honor of the deceased. He ordered the national flag to be hoisted on half employees in the White House and on all federal buildings.
Khalsa said community members are in contact with officials. “After September 11th, the Sikh community suffered greatly. It is high time that strong measures were taken to put an end to such mass shootings. Enough is enough,” he said. Indiana has approximately 10,000 members of the Sikh community.
Community leaders like Khalsa are involved in philanthropic and charitable causes. Many Sikhs work in different shifts at the FedEx facility.
“We have families in our country who mourn the loss of their family members to gun violence. There is no question that this violence must end. And we think of the families who lost loved ones, ”Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters.
This is the worst Sikh massacre in the US following the mass shootings at Oak Creek Gurdwara, Wisconsin on August 5, 2012, in which six members of the community were killed.
“This should be a wake-up call for the whole country, especially the Sikhs and Asian Americans, who have suddenly seen a surge in hate crimes,” Khalsa said.
Khalsa did not rule out the possibility of a hate crime, saying community leaders will meet on Saturday to discuss the tragic incident and the way forward.
“We urge the President of the United States to come forward and take hate crimes seriously, especially against the Sikh community because of the way they look and are very vulnerable,” he said.
“The president should take it seriously – gun controls, automatic semi-automatic weapons – they’re very deadly,” he said.
“America is the most powerful country in human history. It is shameful, however, that we cannot address this growing problem of the shooting of innocent people in the United States. It’s crazy, ”said Khalsa.
“We are deeply saddened by this recent murder in Indianapolis. It is very disturbing to hear that random mass shootings take place in America almost every week. This kind of senseless killing and gun violence must stop, ”Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council for Religion and Education, told PTI.
“The recent rise in violence and hatred against Asian Americans is also worrying many minority communities. It is so sad to see so many innocent Sikhs fall victim to this violence. We pray for the victims and their families, ”he said.
He called on the Biden government to offer all help to the victims in Indiana. “The Sikh community stands ready to do its part. We also support sound gun laws to contain this epidemic in America,” said Singh.
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