Federal investigators had “looked at” Sikh temple gunman Wade Michael Page more than once because of his associations with right-wing extremists and the possibility that he was providing funding to a domestic terrorist group, but law enforcement officials at the time determined there was not enough evidence of a crime to open an investigation, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said.

President Barack Obama said on Monday that mass killings like the weekend shooting rampage at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were happening with "too much regularity" and should prompt soul searching by all Americans on ways to reduce gun violence. "All of us are heart-broken by what happened," Obama told reporters at the White House a day after a gunman opened fire on Sikh worshippers preparing for religious services, killing six before he was shot dead by a police officer. Asked whether he would push for more gun-control measures in the wake of the shootings, Obama said he wanted to bring together leaders at all levels of American society to examine ways to curb gun violence. That echoed his pledge last month in a speech in New Orleans to work broadly to "arrive at a consensus" on the contentious issue after a deadly Colorado shooting spree highlighted the issue in an election year. But like his earlier comments, Obama offered no timetable or specifics for such discussions.

The connections between mass media and mass murder are often tenuous -- commentators were reluctant, for example, to indict the "Dark Knight" movie trilogy for the horrific shootings at Aurora, Colo., three weeks ago. But it's harder to dismiss the revelation that Wade Michael Page, the man shot to death by police after a shooting spree that killed six worshipers in a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin on Sunday, belonged to a hardcore skinhead band called End Apathy. Why? Because according to TJ Lindley, who was an active skinhead for 15 years before defecting and writing a book about his experiences, bands like End Apathy often have direct connections with the white supremacy movement. "If you're in a white supremacy band, you are extremely active. You do not get involved in a band and doing stuff like that unless you are completely 100-percent dedicated to the movement," Lindley said.

Satwant Singh Kaleka’s final action at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin was one of heroism. When Wade Michael Page, the suspected gunman in Sunday’s tragic shooting, opened fire, the 65-year-old temple president rushed to stop him — possibly preventing more deaths. “He was trying his best to give time for people to get to security,” said his son, Amardeep Kaleka, during a news conference at the Salvation Army in Oak Creek Monday.

President Barack Obama ordered flags at all U.S. government facilities both at home and abroad to be flown at half-staff Monday, a response to a mass-shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin over the weekend. "As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on August 5, 2012, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, August 10, 2012," Obama wrote in the proclamation.

The spokesman for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office has posted redacted gun permits dated in 2008 for Wade Michael Page, identified by authorities as the suspect in Sunday's Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings. The five permits issued are good for five years. According to the North Carolina Rifle & Pistol Association, all handgun transfers in North Carolina require that the intended recipient obtain a Pistol Purchase Permit from his/her local Sheriff. One Pistol Purchase Permit is required per handgun at $5 apiece. When the owner takes possession of the handgun, they must present the permit to the seller, who must keep it in his or her records. It is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the transaction takes place without the permit being presented.

Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy was the first officer to the scene and was ambushed and shot up to nine times while attempting to help an injured victim. When support arrived, he refused help and ordered officers to go into the temple and help others.

Friends, my name is Cody Hickman, and I was in theater 8 during the Aurora theater shooting. I am writing this post as a call to action for all of you. All you will be asked to do is repost this message, and help us network some support...

Speaking with Oak Creek Patch after a round of national television interviews, Mayor Steve Scaffidi said it will take some time for the community to heal. A memorial event is planned on Tuesday during National Night Out, which will be held as scheduled. "You're going to feel the effects of this for a long time," he said. "We're going to work toward healing." Scaffidi said he did not have any previous contacts with the Sikh Temple but knew them as a "great member of the community" that did not have past problems in Oak Creek. The Sikh Temple moved here about five years ago. Scaffidi said the phone call he received from President Barack Obama Sunday afternoon was "startling." But the two- or three-minute conversation was very comforting, he said, as the president offered whatever federal resources are needed.

The man who allegedly murdered six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee yesterday, identified in media reports as Wade Michael Page, was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band. In 2010, Page, then the leader of the band End Apathy, gave an interview to the white supremacist website Label 56. He said that when he started the band in 2005, its name reflected his wish to “figure out how to end people’s apathetic ways” and start “moving forward.” “I was willing to point out some of my faults on how I was holding myself back,” Page said.

The man suspected of shooting and killing six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Sunday is former Army soldier Wade Michael Page, 40, several law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said Monday. The shooter was killed by an officer at the scene.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she is "devastated" by the mass shootings in Oak Creek, Wis., but said when it comes to revisiting the issue of gun control, Congress just doesn't have the votes to pass any laws. "The votes aren't there for gun control," she said. "We certainly aren't going to be able to do it in this Congress, and I don't know that we would be able to do it in a Democratic Congress because it takes a lot of votes to go down that path."

According to Philadelphia Sikh Society’s vice president, Harvinder Kauer Kocher, since 9/11, she has noticed reports of acts of violence, intimidation, and in some cases, murder of members of the Sikh community. “Whoever is wearing a turban in America is 99 percent Sikh,” Kocher said. “Not Muslim.” Since the attacks, she said, the PSS has attempted to gain more exposure for understanding and welcoming for the Sikh community in the Philadelphia area and throughout the United States. Locally, such measures have included participation in the annual Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation, which last took place April 29. However, Kocher said, more needs to be done by the government and media. "We are a very small community," Kocher said. "We need the government’s help, and talk on [television] about the suffering." She suggested that the United States government should have increased gun control laws, and that the media should produce more coverage on the Sikh community for more understanding. "Why do we have to have a tragedy happen to get good from it?" Kocher said. "And, by good, I mean the media letting people see that we are Sikhs."

Federal officials cautioned against thinking that a concrete link to a domestic terrorism group or hate group had been established. “The investigation will have to continue to see and determine the motive,” said a federal law enforcement official who had been briefed on the early planning for the case. “We don’t know much about the motive at this point.”

At 4:45pm I received a call from President Obama offering his condolences to our City. His words were comforting on a very difficult day.

As authorities searched a home in Cudahy Sunday evening believed to be the residence of the man who shot and killed six people at an Oak Creek Sikh temple, a woman whose son owns that home shed some light on the shooter. The mother of the suspect’s landlord told Patch Sunday she believed the man had “just broken up with his girlfriend.” “He’s a renter,” said the woman, whom Patch is not identifying. “He’s new actually. He rented a room with my son.” The woman said she is “completely freaked out” and that she believes her son found the man as a renter for his home in the 3700 block of E. Holmes Avenue “through an ad.” “He lived with my son for three weeks, then the house across the street became empty, and he moved there,” she said.

As a Sikh, I believe that people are inherently good. Our faith instills a sense of perpetual optimism, and our traditions teach us to always make the best of a tough situation. Fear and negativity are foreign to our vocabulary. Sikhs are not a God-fearing people; we are God-loving. The commitment to love and optimism shapes the way that Sikhs interact with their societies, and I'm concerned that becoming cynical and negative might lead us down a slippery slope. So I am making a conscious decision. I am refusing to accept that human beings are malicious and hateful, and I am rejecting the notion that we need to live in fear.

CUDAHY, Wis. — Police in Wisconsin have evacuated homes in a Milwaukee suburb northeast of the Sikh temple where an unknown gunman killed six Sunday morning. The evacuations are in Cudahy, which is about six miles from the temple in Oak Creek. Police have roped off four blocks in a neighborhood with a mix of duplexes and single-family homes, as well as one house. FBI agents are there with an armored truck, a trailer and other vehicles. Other law enforcement officers are there too, along with a police dog. Fifty-eight-year-old Ken Kacner lives about a block from the house that police have targeted. Kacner says neighborhood has changed over the years and has become more dangerous.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families and community of those injured and killed in today’s tragic shooting, and I join the people of Wisconsin and the entire Sikh-American community in mourning. There is no room in any society for such violence. While we do not yet know the motivations of this senseless act and it’s important to wait for more information from law enforcement, we do know that Sikh-Americans are too often the victims of intolerance and hate. Today we all grieve for those lost in this tragic event.

"Unfortunately, our history books and our schools, they're not that informative about our culture and religion," Jaskaran Singh said. "There has been a case of mistaken identity...some people think we're Muslim, some consider us Hindus." The religion has approximately 1 million members in the United States and have been living here for a century, according to Gurinderjit Singh. The Garden State Sikh Association will discuss possible ways to help the families in Oak Creek, in an attempt to provide financial assistance or in any way that is needed.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and everyone in Oak Creek who has been impacted by this tragic act of violence.

"We need protection here, too," said Jaswinder Singh, a committee member at the local Sikh temple. "We’re not feeling safe." While children -- some too young to understand the gravity of the situation in Wisconsin -- giggle and run down the temple's hallways, Singh said older members are hesitant and scared to come to temple. "Everyone is calling and contacting the committee, asking if it's safe to come to the temple," he added.

Malkit Singh Gill, president of the New England Sikh Study Circle in Milford, said it’s unfortunate that religion is the cause for persecution in the land of the free. “I think this is very tragic,” Gill said. “The country was founded on the belief that there should be no religious persecution.” Gill said that there are more than 500,000 Sikhs in this country, and their temples are open to anyone, however he is unsure what comes after this. “I need to be thinking about what the next step is for the temple. We are hard working peace loving people and it’s sad that one person is trying to put fear in to us,” Gill said.

The Sikh Coalition's prayers and thoughts go out to the victim's of today's shooting at the Oak Creek Gurdwara in Wisconsin. We are monitoring the situation and have been in touch with federal authorities and local sangat members regarding the situation.

A Milwaukee hospital is treating the police officer shot at a Sikh temple south of the city and two other victims. All are in critical condition. Froederdt Hospital Chief Medical Office Lee Biblo says the three victims of the shooting in suburban Oak Creek are all adult men. The hospital did not immediately identify the police officer or the other two victims. Hospital spokeswoman Carolyn Bellin says one of the victims had gunshot wounds to the face and extremities, and another had wounds to his abdomen. She did not know which was the police officer, or the nature of the third victim's wounds. Police said earlier the officer is expected to survive. Bellin says the hospital is not expecting any more shooting victims.

It's very sad to see something like this happen to a peaceful place of worship. Our prayers and condolences go out to the families of the innocent victims and the family of the heroic officer in this senseless tragedy.

"Every Sunday we have a Sunday mass, you know?" said Singh. "We come here to pray. This was an unexpected to happen. There was nobody armed. We come here for pray, you know? Don't have getting guns and there was nobody to defend them." Singh also says he he feels helpless and angry over the incident. "I don't know why these people do this, you know?" Singh said, distraught. "These are peaceful people. They just come here. This is the kind of hate crime that should be stopped and should be done something about."

"We have no idea," he said of the motive. "It's pretty much a hate crime. It's not an insider." According to Ri, the man started shooting after he walked up to a priest who was standing outside, and shot him. Then he went inside and started shooting. People inside the temple were using cell phones to call people outside, saying please send help, Ri said. "It's sad, I don't know how to describe it," said Ri, who has been fielding calls all morning from around the world, including India. "Sikhism is such a peaceful religion. We have suffered for generations, in India and even here." "We're all the same," said temple member Jaswinder Schandock. "Everybody has the same blood."

Kanwal Singh couldn’t take it anymore. For about a year, the Canton teenager had tried living in metro Detroit wearing a turban over his uncut hair – as mandated by his Sikh faith. But the stares and insults were too much. “Terrorist!” Singh remembers some students in his high school blurting out at him. And so, in 2007, he got his hair cut and shaved his beard – one of many Sikh boys and men who are giving up their articles of faith to avoid discrimination and harassment. Singh and others say a majority of young Sikhs in metro Detroit have cut their hair out of fear.

We have seen reports on the tragic incident earlier today of firing at a group of worshippers in a Gurudwara in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The Embassy is seized of the situation and has been in touch with the National Security Council in Washington, D.C. Our Consulate General in Chicago too has been in close touch with the local authorities to monitor the situation. An official has been deputed to visit the site to ascertain the situation on-the-spot.

Sad, family members cry outside the scene in Wisconsin. via the AP. twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew…

A family member waits to hear information about his loved ones. via the AP twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew…

Source on WISN: Three priests have been shot #theatershooting

400-500 people attend this #Sikh temple #TempleShooting

Scene from right across the street twitter.com/AJBayatpour/st…

The dispatcher for Oak Creek Fire Department said first reports of the shooting came in about 10:30 a.m. local time (11.30 a.m. EDT). "We do have a shooting," she said. "Our whole department is out there, and others as well." She did not have details on any possible victims. Police officials declined to comment.

Anxious family members waiting to hear from relatives twitter.com/AJBayatpour/st…

Wide shot of #templeshooting scene twitter.com/AJBayatpour/st…

Family members still awaiting word. All crowed at police line twitter.com/AJBayatpour/st…