7 dead in Sikh temple shooting in Milwaukee (UPDATES)

GlobalPost

At least seven people have been killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reported. As many as 20 to 30 people were reportedly injured in the incident. 

Four of the victims were inside the temple and three, including a shooter, were found outside, Slate reported

The shooting occurred around 11 a.m. Sunday morning at a temple in the city's Oak Creek neighborhood, south of Milwaukee along Lake Michigan.

Witnesses told local NBC News affiliate TMJ4 that a shooter opened fire inside the temple during Sunday morning worship. 

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department has reportedly sent a SWAT Team presence to the temple. Authorities from several agencies, including the FBI, are also on the scene, CBS News reported

A police officer who responded to a 911 call was shot multiple times by the shooter, CBS News reported, but returned fire, Greenfield Police Chief Brad Wentlandt said. 

The officer, who killed the shooter, was transported to a nearby hospital, CBS reported. 

Police are currently assessing if reports of additional shooters inside the temple are accurate, and have asked the media to refrain from reporting on or transmitting images of police operations in the area, according to CBS News.

Among the victims was the president of the temple, Satwant Kaleka, who was taken to a hospital, the Journal Sentinel reported.

"We have no idea" of the motive for the shooting, one of the temple's committee members, Ven Boba Ri, told the Journal Sentinel. "It's pretty much a hate crime. It's not an insider."

Ri told reporters that, based on communications with those trapped inside the temple, the shooter was a white male in his 30s.

"It's sad, I don't know how to describe it," Ri told the Journal. "Sikhism is such a peaceful religion. We have suffered for generations, in India and even here."

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