At least four of the victims of a mass shooting at a FedEx company facility in Indianapolis in the United States of America by a 19-year-old former employee were Sikhs. "We are sad to confirm that at least four of those killed in Thursday night's attacks are members of the Indianapolis Sikh community," the Sikh Coalition said in a statement. It added, "We are in touch with sangat leaders, government and law enforcement officials (and) we expect that the authorities will conduct a full investigation, including the possibility of a bias factor."
The coalition, which identifies itself as the largest Sikh civil rights organisation in the US, also noted in the statement that more than 8,000 Sikh Americans live in Indiana. Officials, who said that a "significant" number of employees at the parcel and courier service company are Sikhs, reported that the gunman killed himself after murdering eight people Thursday night and wounding at least seven, five of whom were hospitalised.
Meanwhile, police scoured the Fedex facility in Indianapolis and searched the suspected gunman's home Friday looking for a motive for the latest mass shooting to rock the US, as family members of the eight victims spent agonising hours awaiting word on their loved ones.
The shooter was identified as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana, two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told The Associated Press. The investigators searched a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and seized evidence, including desktop computers and other electronic media, the officials said. The officials could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief Craig McCartt said the gunman started randomly shooting at people in the parking lot and then went into the building and continued firing. He said the shooter apparently died by suicide shortly before police entered the building.
"There was no confrontation with anyone that was there, he said. There was no disturbance, there was no argument. He just appeared to randomly start shooting," he said. McCartt said four people were killed outside the building and another four inside. Several people were also wounded, including five who were taken to the hospital. The carnage took just a couple of minutes. It did not last very long, he added.
Officials with the coroner's office began the process of identifying victims on Friday afternoon, a process they said would take several hours.
FedEx Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick Smith called the shooting a senseless act of violence. This is a devastating day, and words are hard to describe the emotions we all feel, he wrote in an email to employees.