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Sikh community calls for gun reforms after FedEx shooting
INDIANAPOLIS Members of Indianapolis’ tight-knit Sikh community joined with city officials to call for gun reforms as they mourned the deaths of four Sikhs, who were among the eight people killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx warehouse
INDIANAPOLIS
Members of Indianapolis’ tight-knit Sikh community joined with city officials to call for gun reforms as they mourned the deaths of four Sikhs, who were among the eight people killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx warehouse.
At a vigil attended by more than 200 at an Indianapolis park on Saturday evening, Aasees Kaur, who represented the Sikh Coalition, spoke out alongside the city’s mayor and other elected officials to demand action that would prevent such attacks from happening again.
“We must support one another, not just in grief, but in calling our policymakers and elected officials to make meaningful change,” Kaur said. “The time to act is not later, but now. We are far too many tragedies, too late, in doing so.”
Kiran Deol, who attended the vigil in support of family members affected by the shooting, said loopholes in the law that make it easier for individuals to buy guns “need to be closed now,” and emphasised that anyone who tries to buy a firearm should be required to have their background checked.
Satjeet Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s executive director, said the entire community was traumatised by the “senseless” violence. “While we don’t yet know the motive of the shooter, he targeted a facility known to be heavily populated by Sikh employees,” Kaur said.
There are between 8,000 and 10,000 Sikh Americans in Indiana, according to the coalition
One of the victims of Thursday night’s shooting was Amarjit Sekhon, a 48-year-old Sikh mother of two sons, who was the breadwinner of her family. Kuldip Sekhon said his sister-in-law began working at the FedEx facility in November and was a dedicated worker whose husband was disabled.
In addition to Sekhon, the Marion County Coroner’s office identified the dead as: Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74.
Kuldip Sekhon said his family lost another relative in the shooting — Kaur, who was his son’s mother-in-law. He said both Kaur and Amarjit Sekhon both began working at the FedEx facility last year.
Komal Chohan, who said Amarjeet Johal was her grandmother, said in a statement issued by the Sikh Coalition that her family members, including several who work at the FedEx warehouse, are “traumatised” by the killings.
The shooting is the deadliest incident of violence collectively in the Sikh community in the U.S. since 2012, when a white supremacist burst into a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and shot 10 people, killing seven.
United Sikhs, a United Nations affiliated human rights and advocacy organisation, has expressed shock over the shooting. “We are in touch with the federal agencies for the safety and security of people at all these community events,” said Manvinder Singh, director of the United Sikhs. Singh demanded from the Joe Biden administration to swiftly act against the hate crimes and develop a mechanism to stop it.
‘Probe shooting as potential hate crime’
Influential American lawmakers and Sikh community leaders have sought a thorough investigation into the mass shooting at the FedEx facility, according to a PTI report.
Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said: “While the Indianapolis and Sikh communities continue to mourn, and as the rest of our country mourns with them, investigators must also determine if this mass shooting was a hate-motivated attack in addition to serving as another example of the plague of gun violence which has beset our nation,” Krishnamoorthi said.
“We do not yet know the motive of the shooter, and we may never know for sure what drove him to do what he did. We do know, however, that the FedEx facility he targeted was known for having a large workforce,” said a joint statement issued by eight gurdwaras of Indianapolis.
Shooter’s family apologises to victims’ relatives
The family of the 19-year-old mass shooter in Indiana who killed eight people, including four Sikhs, has apologised to the relatives of the victims, saying they were “devastated” by the actions of their son and that they tried to get him the help he needed.
The gunman, identified as Brandon Scott Hole, shot and killed himself after opening fire at the FedEx Ground Facility in Indianapolis on Thursday night. He was a former FedEx employee.
Hole’s family released a statement to the families of the victims and the Indianapolis community on Saturday.
“We are devastated at the loss of life caused as a result of Brandon’s actions; through the love of his family, we tried to get him the help he needed. “Our sincerest and most heartfelt apologies go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy. We are so sorry for the pain and hurt being felt by their families and the entire Indianapolis community.”
