The FBI on Wednesday said Wade Michael Page, the gunman who killed six people at the Oak Creek Sikh temple on Sunday, shot and killed himself after he was wounded by an Oak Creek police officer, JSonline Report.
Authorities previously said Page died after he was shot by a police officer after Page refused commands to drop his weapon and fired at officers. They did not mention the self-inflicted wound until Wednesday.
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FBI Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson said evidence, including videotape, related to the officer shooting Page showed Page took his own life after the rifle shot took him down. But there is no surveillance video from the temple that would show the shooting inside.
That officer shot Page in the stomach, “thereby neutralizing the threat,” Carlson said, noting, “I’ve seen the video, it was an amazing shot. And thank goodness.
“Subsequent to that wound, it appears that Page died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” Carlson said at a news conference at the FBI office in Milwaukee.
Carlson said the officer’s body shot potentially would have been fatal, but that it was the self-inflicted wound that killed Page.
The officer who shot Page has been identified by the police union as Sam Lenda.
The officer was 25 yards away from Page when he shot him, according to reports released Wednesday by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Those reports indicate that Page shot his first victims outside the temple and then went inside, where he shot and killed four people in various locations of the building. Two victims and Page died outside the temple.
Carlson said it did not appear Page was targeting specific individuals.
Steven Conley, assistant special agent in charge of national security for the FBI, said, “We may never know why he chose that facility at that point in time. . . . That may have died with Page.”
Asked whether Page thought the Sikhs were Muslim, Conley said, “Historically, there has been confusion between Sikhs and Muslims.”
In addition to the six killed, Page, 40, shot and injured three other worshippers and Oak Creek police Lt. Brian Murphy at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, 7512 S. Howell Ave.
Page ambushed Murphy in the temple’s parking lot as Murphy went to help a victim of the massacre.
Carlson said during the news conference that Page acted alone, but they continue to investigate in part because of his ties to white-supremacist groups.
The investigation has included more than 100 interviews that have occurred with Page’s family members, associates, neighbors and employers nationwide, Carlson said.
She said authorities are pursuing 101 leads worldwide and have issued 180 grand jury subpoenas.
Authorities also are reviewing Page’s email and telephone records, state Department of Transportation video and neighborhood security video.
Carlson said the temple’s video surveillance system was not turned on Sunday so there is no view of the shooting from inside the temple.
Searches of Page’s residence, vehicle, a rented storage locker and space he had at a former employer have been conducted, she said.
“I want to reiterate again that after all of this work we still have identified no one else responsible for this shooting other than him,” Carlson said. “We also have not clearly defined his motive at this point.”
She said investigators have not found a note from Page explaining his motives or plans.
Carlson said Page likely came to the Milwaukee area because of a girlfriend who lived here and who may have shared his white power beliefs.
The woman, now Page’s ex-girlfriend, Misty Cook, 31, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm by South Milwaukee police. A gun was observed in her residence in the 1400 block of Marquette Ave. when investigators were interviewing her Sunday in the aftermath of the temple shooting. Cook and Page had rented the residence together in February and Cook continued living in the residence after she and Page broke up in June. He moved to a duplex in Cudahy, which also was searched.
Authorities said they believe Cook, who also has ties to white-supremacist groups, had no role in the shootings. Her arrest, Carlson said, was not connected to shootings in Oak Creek and has no relation to the investigation.
Cook has cooperated with authorities.
Murphy and two other shooting victims, Punjab Singh and Santokh Singh, remain hospitalized at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. Police have said a third worshipper who was shot and injured Sunday was treated and released.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards at the news conference said Murphy is “progressing amazingly and we’re very thankful for that.”
Murphy was up and walking around the hospital on Tuesday, Edwards said.
Authorities previously said Page died after he was shot by a police officer after Page refused commands to drop his weapon and fired at officers. They did not mention the self-inflicted wound until Wednesday.
.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson said evidence, including videotape, related to the officer shooting Page showed Page took his own life after the rifle shot took him down. But there is no surveillance video from the temple that would show the shooting inside.
That officer shot Page in the stomach, “thereby neutralizing the threat,” Carlson said, noting, “I’ve seen the video, it was an amazing shot. And thank goodness.
“Subsequent to that wound, it appears that Page died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” Carlson said at a news conference at the FBI office in Milwaukee.
Carlson said the officer’s body shot potentially would have been fatal, but that it was the self-inflicted wound that killed Page.
The officer who shot Page has been identified by the police union as Sam Lenda.
The officer was 25 yards away from Page when he shot him, according to reports released Wednesday by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Those reports indicate that Page shot his first victims outside the temple and then went inside, where he shot and killed four people in various locations of the building. Two victims and Page died outside the temple.
Carlson said it did not appear Page was targeting specific individuals.
Steven Conley, assistant special agent in charge of national security for the FBI, said, “We may never know why he chose that facility at that point in time. . . . That may have died with Page.”
Asked whether Page thought the Sikhs were Muslim, Conley said, “Historically, there has been confusion between Sikhs and Muslims.”
In addition to the six killed, Page, 40, shot and injured three other worshippers and Oak Creek police Lt. Brian Murphy at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, 7512 S. Howell Ave.
Page ambushed Murphy in the temple’s parking lot as Murphy went to help a victim of the massacre.
Carlson said during the news conference that Page acted alone, but they continue to investigate in part because of his ties to white-supremacist groups.
The investigation has included more than 100 interviews that have occurred with Page’s family members, associates, neighbors and employers nationwide, Carlson said.
She said authorities are pursuing 101 leads worldwide and have issued 180 grand jury subpoenas.
Authorities also are reviewing Page’s email and telephone records, state Department of Transportation video and neighborhood security video.
Carlson said the temple’s video surveillance system was not turned on Sunday so there is no view of the shooting from inside the temple.
Searches of Page’s residence, vehicle, a rented storage locker and space he had at a former employer have been conducted, she said.
“I want to reiterate again that after all of this work we still have identified no one else responsible for this shooting other than him,” Carlson said. “We also have not clearly defined his motive at this point.”
She said investigators have not found a note from Page explaining his motives or plans.
Carlson said Page likely came to the Milwaukee area because of a girlfriend who lived here and who may have shared his white power beliefs.
The woman, now Page’s ex-girlfriend, Misty Cook, 31, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm by South Milwaukee police. A gun was observed in her residence in the 1400 block of Marquette Ave. when investigators were interviewing her Sunday in the aftermath of the temple shooting. Cook and Page had rented the residence together in February and Cook continued living in the residence after she and Page broke up in June. He moved to a duplex in Cudahy, which also was searched.
Authorities said they believe Cook, who also has ties to white-supremacist groups, had no role in the shootings. Her arrest, Carlson said, was not connected to shootings in Oak Creek and has no relation to the investigation.
Cook has cooperated with authorities.
Murphy and two other shooting victims, Punjab Singh and Santokh Singh, remain hospitalized at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. Police have said a third worshipper who was shot and injured Sunday was treated and released.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards at the news conference said Murphy is “progressing amazingly and we’re very thankful for that.”
Murphy was up and walking around the hospital on Tuesday, Edwards said.
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