The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, where a gunman killed six people before taking his own life on August, 5, 2012, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. (Photo credit: TASOS KATOPODIS/AFP/GettyImages)
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PALATINE, Ill. (CBS) – More than 200 members of the Sikh temple in Palatine have returned from suburban Milwaukee, where they took part in Friday’s memorial service for those murdered last weekend by a white supremacist gunman.
The Palatine temple’s president, Sukhdev Kaur Ghuman, said what struck her was the peace she felt when entering the gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wis., even when speaking with some of the women who barricaded themselves in a kitchen pantry to escape the killer.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Bob Roberts reports
She said people of all religions were represented – including Muslims, who brought sandwiches, water and tea which they gave to dozens of people; even though, as Muslims, they are forbidden to eat during daylight hours, because of the Ramadan fast that continues for another week.
“It doesn’t matter what religion you belonged to, in general, good community was together, as always,” she said.
Ghuman said that she left a note of sympathy next to the bullet hole that has been preserved in a temple door jamb, as a memorial to those who died.
The Palatine temple is collecting money to help defray the expenses of the families made victims by the shooting spree.
Ghuman said that those wishing to make donations can go online to the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago’s Web site, srsofchicago.com, or the site WeAreSikhs.com.
