Wade Michael PageFBI: Seeking second "person of interest" in Oak Creek Sikh temple shooting
A man with a 9/11 tattoo looks at his cell phone Sunday after taking video of media, friends and relatives gathered by police in a parking lot near the Sikh temple in Oak Creek. Authorities are attempting to identify the man, who they described as "a person of interest." The shooter who opened fire before worship services Sunday at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek and killed six people before he was killed by police is Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran, U.S. Attorney James A. Santelle said Monday.
He said officials believe he purchased the 9mm handgun legally in Wisconsin.
At a news conference at 10 a.m., authorities said they were attempting to identify another person, a white male, who they described as "a person of interest."
A man matching the photo officials showed was seen by Journal Sentinel reporters at the scene of the temple Sunday, possibly taking video of what was going on. Anyone with information on the man is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Page, 40, served in the military approximately between 1992 and 1998, Santelle said.
Other sources familiar with the shooting investigation said Wade was assigned to psychological operations, or PsyOps.At the news briefing in Oak Creek, officials identified the Oak Creek police officer who was shot when he responded to the temple as Lt. Brian Murphy, 51, an experienced member of the department's tactical unit.
Murphy was a finalist for the Oak Creek police chief post in 2010 and has 21 years with the department
Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the temple president, was killed Sunday after attempting to tackle the gunman.
Oak Creek Police identified the other victims Monday as Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; Prakash Singh, 39; Paramjit Kaur, 41; and Suveg Singh, 84.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said during the news conference that Murphy was the first officer on the scene and came upon a victim in the temple parking lot. As Murphy was going to assist the victim, who is among the dead, he was ambushed by the gunman. Murphy was shot eight to nine times at "very close range" with a handgun, one of the shots striking his neck area, Edwards said.
Other officers arriving on the scene heard shots but did not know Murphy had been wounded, Edwards said. They saw the gunman, ordered him to drop his weapon and put his hands up, but he did not, Edwards said.
The gunman fired at officers and the bullets struck squad cars. At that point, an officer with a rifle shot and killed the suspect, Edwards said. He did not identify that officer, saying that a separate investigation was being conducted as a result of the officer-involved shooting. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and the Milwaukee Police Department are working on that investigation.
Murphy is in critical condition but is expected to survive, Edwards said.
In addition to Murphy, three others who were at the temple were injured. Two are in a hospital in critical condition. The third was treated and released, Edwards said.
In remarks before Edwards spoke, Mayor Steve Scaffidi said, there is "no doubt in my mind the heroic actions of our police officers prevented a greater tragedy."
Group says it has tracked Page for yearsThe Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that has studied hate crimes for decades, reported Monday that Page was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band known as End Apathy.
Heidi Beirich, director of the center's intelligence project, said her group had been tracking Page since 2000, when he tried to purchase goods from the National Alliance, a well-known hate group.
The National Alliance was led by William Pierce, who was the author of "The Turner Diaries." The book depicts a violent revolution in the United States leading to an overthrow of the federal government and, ultimately, a race war. Parts of the book were found in Timothy McVeigh's getaway car after the bombing of the federal building Oklahoma City in 1995.
Beirich said there was "no question" Page was an ardent follower and believer in the white supremacist movement. She said her center had evidence that he attended "hate events" around the country.
"He was involved in the scene," she said.
Pierce is dead, and Beirich said the National Alliance is no longer considered to be an influential group.
Also on Monday, a volunteer human-rights group called Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) found links between Page, his band and a white supremacist website called Stormfront.Jeffrey Imm, who heads R.E.A.L., said in an interview Monday that someone based in Milwaukee using the name "End Apathy" began posting on the website in February 2008. Additionally, appearances by Page's band were promoted on the Stormfront site, including a white supremacist gathering in March 2012 in Richmond, Va.
Here is a screen capture of the "End Apathy" post. And here is a post on Stormfront promoting the band's appearance.
Santelle, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, said he believed Page left the Army under a general discharge, but wasn't sure what that indicated about his service.
Officials at the Army's national records center in St. Louis said the FBI took Page's military records Sunday night.
Wade has ties to Colorado and North Carolina, Santelle said, but investigators are not certain what brought him to the Milwaukee area.
It's unclear how long he was in Wisconsin before he began renting a duplex in the 3700 block of E. Holmes Ave. in Cudahy starting in July.
Santelle said he didn't believe Wade had a criminal record. He added that investigators are still tracing the history of the 9mm handgun Wade used. But Santelle said that he thought it had been purchased legally in Wisconsin.
The gun used in the temple shooting has been traced by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Tom Ahern, spokesman for the agency. Under an urgent trace request, the ATF has determined the original buyer of the weapon. Ahern said it is up to Oak Creek police to release information on the gun purchase.
At the news conference, ATF special agent in charge Bernard Zapor said of the gun, "We know of its origin. We know where it came from," and "how it ended up in the hands of this killer."
But other than to say it was a 9mm handgun and that a number of magazines were found at the scene, Zapor would not disclose anything else about the gun.
However, sources familiar with the investigation said Page bought the gun at Shooters Shop, at S. 84th St. and W. Arthur Ave., in West Allis.
The gun was purchased July 28 and picked up July 30, less than a week before the shooting.
Page received a general discharge from the Army, meaning that he could legally buy a firearm. Had he received a dishonorable discharge, he would have been prohibited from purchasing the weapon.
Shooters Shop owner Kevin Nugent said Monday federal agents had not visited him on the purchase and he could not confirm that Page bought the gun at his store.
Law enforcement officials have been investigating the Cudahy duplex where Page lived. The block on E. Holmes Ave. was cordoned off for a time Sunday night as officials investigated inside, and residents were evacuated from their homes.
The officers came out of the duplex around midnight, carrying large items.
Edwards, the Oak Creek police chief, said investigators carefully searched the house because they were concerned it might be booby-trapped.
At the Monday news conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson said investigators were able to safely enter the residence. She provided no details of what they found.
She said there was no indication the suspect was capable of such violence.
But Carlson said investigators were trying to find Page's family and associates to speak with them, although she stated there was no reason to believe anyone else was associated with the shooting.
She also said the FBI was looking at Page's possible ties to white supremacist groups, but she noted there was no active investigation of Page until Sunday.
