Probe Indianapolis shooting as hate crime: PIOs

Washington, April 18

Influential American lawmakers and Sikh community leaders have sought a thorough probe into the mass shooting at a FedEx facility in the US state of Indiana as a potential hate crime that killed eight people, including four Sikhs.

Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Saturday called for investigation of potential anti-Sikh motivations in the incident that took place late Thursday night.

“While Indianapolis and the 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.

The four Sikhs who lost their lives are Amarjeet Kaur Johal (66), Jasvinder Kaur (64) Amarjit Sekhon (48) and Jaswinder Singh (68).

Gurinder Singh Khalsa, president of the Indiana-based Sikhs Political Action Committee, announced to set up a task force to look into the circumstances and potential lapses that resulted in the horrific mass shooting.

“Learning the confirmation that four of those killed in the Indianapolis shooting were members of the Sikh community is heart wrenching,” tweeted Sabrina Singh, Deputy Press Secretary to US Vice President. — PTI