UPDATE: OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) -- The FBI says it is investigating whether the shootings by a gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were an act of domestic terrorism.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson says in a Sunday night statement that no motive has been determined for the attack at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. She says the investigation is in its early stages.

The shootings happened about 10:30 a.m. as people were gathering for a service at the temple just south of Milwaukee. Police say the gunman later ambushed an officer tending to a victim before being shot to death by a second officer.

Carlson says the agency's "thoughts are with those affected and particularly the officer who was wounded in the line of duty to protect others."

 

 

(ABC NEWS) Seven people are dead after a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wisconsin this morning, according to police.

Two others, a civilian and a police officer, were injured and were being treated at a local hospital. At least one suspected shooter is among the dead, Greenfield, Wisc., police chief Brad Wentlandt said today.

Police are still trying to determine if there was another shooter involved in the attack, during which at least one gunman walked into the temple around 10:25 a.m. and opened fire. Wentlandt said the calls reporting different shooters may be separate reports of the same gunman.

The first police officer to arrive on scene after a flurry of 911 calls exchanged gunfire with the shooter, receiving multiple gunshot wounds in the process. He was rushed into surgery at Froedtert Hospital, the main trauma center in the Milwaukee region, Wentlandt said.

"An officer arrived and engaged a suspect. That officer was shot multiple times. He is expected to survive," said Wentlandt at a hastily-arranged briefing for news media.

The gunman, he said, "is down on the scene and is presumed deceased."

Four others were found dead inside the temple, while three people, including the shooter, were found dead outside the building.

Police are still performing tactical searches of the building to ensure that they have evacuated all of the injured people and cleared the building of any additional shooters.

Wentlandt said, "We believe we have the situation contained here" at the temple. But he also said, "we do not know if there are other shooters at the scene."

He asked media outlets to stop broadcasting aerial footage from helicopters on television, because of tactical operations that were ongoing at the scene.

Among those shot was the president of the temple, Satwant Singh Kaleka, who recently hosted a state representative and the county district attorney to discuss a recent rise in violence against area Sikhs at their stores and businesses, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

On Sundays Sikh temples, called gurudwaras, serve a community meal at which anyone is welcome, as part of their community service. The meal, known as a langar, follows the morning services.

The Sikh religion originated in the Punjab region of India. Men in the religion are

According to information broadcast over police radio, a witness to the shooting told law enforcement the shooter was a white male, bald, with a heavy build. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt, according to Oak Creek Patch. He was last seen with two handguns.

A spokeswoman for Froedtert Hospital, the main trauma center in the Milwaukee area, said that three men were taken there and the hospital was ready to receive more, according to the Associated Press.

Federal agents from the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms bureau were sent to the scene of the shooting, two government officials told ABC News.

There were more than a dozen ambulances parked outside the temple, and police moved media and a handful of bystanders to an area near the temple.

Amardeep Kaleka, a member of the temple, told ABC affiliate WISN his father was inside during the shooting and his mother was hiding inside, believing the gunman was still inside. Kaleka said that a priest called for emergency help after the shooting.