A dramatic video of the tragic Gurdwara shooting incident in Wisconsin was released today in which Wade Michael Page, the white supremacist who gunned down six Sikh worshippers, is shown on the rampage.
“He (Page) was on a mission and he had to be stopped,” Oak Creek police officer, Sam Lenda, who shot at Page told reporters at a news conference in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, after the police released the portions of the dramatic video of officers responding to the August 5 shooting.
Police Lt Brian Murphy, a 21-year officer, who had stopped to tend to a victim outside the temple, is also seen being ambushed by Page in the video as there was exchange of fire between the two.
Murphy who was fatly injured during the incident is now recovering. “There’s no question in my mind that Lt Murphy prevented the gunman from taking more lives,” Lenda said.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards told reporters that Murphy was hit by 15 bullets, not nine as reported earlier. Twelve bullets struck Murphy, and three bullets struck his bulletproof vest, Edwards said.
At a joint news conference with the police, Oak Creek Mayor, Steve Scaffidi, praised the police officers and said that they handled themselves in a professional and heroic manner.
The police is yet to determine the motive of Page for the shooting, who died of self-inflicted injuries.
The 40-year-old Page, an ex-army veteran, went on a shooting spree killing six Sikhs on August 5 at the Gurdwara, before dying of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.