US army vet identified as Sikh temple shooter in Wisconsin

The suspect in the Sikh temple shooting who killed six people in the US State of Wisconsin has been identified as a former US Army soldier with reported links to the white supremacist movement.

Wade Michael Page, who was also killed in a shootout with cops, opened fire at a Sikh temple in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek in Wisconsin, where members were gathering for mediation on Sunday.

Reportedly the 40-year-old was also the leader of a white supremacist band called End Apathy.

Michael Page, of South Milwaukee, was “a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band,” the Southern Poverty Law Center said on Monday.

The center, which has a database of more than 20,000 people it has identified as white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other members of hate groups, said Page has been on its radar since 2000.

Page also posted frequent comments on Internet forums for skinheads, repeatedly exhorting members to act more decisively to support their cause.

“Stop hiding behind the computer or making excuses,” he wrote last year.

The bald, heavily tattooed suspect served as a soldier in the US Army from 1992 to 1998 and was trained in psychological warfare before he was demoted and discharged.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as many as 30 people were shot by Page, including the president of the temple, Satwant Kaleka.

Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the US since 9/11.

There are approximately 500,000 Sikhs in the US.