2 people shot at Sikh gurdwara in Sacramento
Image Courtesy: @LyseeMitri
Tragedy could have been worse as shooting happened at traditional Nagar Kirtan Festival site
At least two people were shot at a Sikh gurdwara along Bradshaw Road in Sacramento County in California on Sunday afternoon after what started as a fight between two men.
The shooting happened at around 2:30 pm when one of the men pulled out a gun and fired it at the other. A friend of the person who was shot then returned fire, CBS Sacramento reported citing the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Read: Indian grocery store clerk shot dead in Georgia in daylight robbery (September 19, 2022)
Amar Gandhi, the spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, said the involved parties seemingly knew each other. “This didn’t just stem out of nothing,” he said.
The shooting happened at the same temple where the Nagar Kirtan Festival was held Sunday morning. Investigators at the scene said they would be attempting to interview people who were in attendance.
The event, which draws thousands of people, is a traditional religious celebration and was the first of its kind to be held at the temple. Authorities say, given the number of people there, it could have been much worse.
“The danger that it posed to all of them, that’s what caused us just disgust and the absolute reckless abandon for that,” Gandhi said.
The sheriff’s office said the two people who were shot were stable in the hospital and were expected to survive.
The second shooter, identified as 22-year-old Karman Singh Sandhu, remained at large for some time but has since been taken into custody. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon on attempted murder charges.
Read: Indian techie shot dead in Baltimore (June 23, 2022)
Majit Khehra told CBS she is lucky. She happened to be shopping on the other side of the festival at the time of the shooting.
“[It was] scary. Just in case we had decided to go into the church first, who knows, we may have been involved in it one way or another,” she said.
Khehra said she was glad no bystanders were injured. “It is my hope that the two youngsters survive and learn a lesson that it’s not appropriate to shoot,” she said. “They could have died today.”
“I am disheartened to learn that since there has been a shooting & several individuals were wounded,” Sacramento City council member Lisa Kaplan wrote on Twitter.
“It breaks my heart that violence has destroyed a celebratory occasion. My prayers are with those wounded – may they have a full recovery. We must do more than pray & remove guns from our streets – so every celebration is that – all celebration w/o violence,” she wrote.
