FBI: Sikh Temple Shooter Died From Self-Inflicted Gun Shot Wound
MILWAUKEE (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Sikh temple shooter, Wade Michael Page, died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound after he was shot by police, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Speaking at a news conference in Milwaukee, FBI Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson said Page shot himself in the head after being shot in the stomach by a responding officer. Authorities previously said the officer had fired the fatal shot.
Carlson also said that investigators have not yet "clearly defined a motive" for Sunday's shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin that left six worshippers dead and three others injured.
Witnesses said Page, an ex-Army soldier and former leader of a white supremacist heavy metal band, walked into the suburban Milwaukee temple as several dozen people prepared for Sunday services and opened fire.
The first officer to respond was 51-year-old Lt. Brian Murphy, a 21-year veteran of the Oak Creek Police Department who is originally from New York City.
Page shot Murphy eight to nine times with a handgun as the officer tended to a victim outside, police said. A second responding officer then fired at the suspect, hitting him in the stomach. On Wednesday, Carlson described it as "an amazing shot."
"I've seen the video, it is an amazing shot and thank goodness," she said.
It was then, the FBI said, that Page shot himself.
Murphy was critically injured and remains hospitalized.
Carlson said investigators have extensively searched Page's home, car and other sites he's had contact with and said his girlfriend was arrested for illegal possession of a weapon in her home, but said she had nothing to do with the temple shooting.
She also said investigators are interviewing dozens of people who have known Page as they work to determine a possible motive.
"After all of this work, we still have identified no one else responsible for this shooting other than him," she said. "We also have not clearly defined a motive at this point."
Federal officials had not opened any investigation into Page before Sunday's shooting, Carlson said.
As new details continue to emerge, local Sikh and interfaith organizations in New York are planning a candlelight vigil Wednesday night in Union Square Park to remember those who were killed in the Wis. shooting.
The vigil is meant to be "part of a nationwide coordinated remembrance for the victims and their families."
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