our officer did engage that individual and that individual is deceased from the actions our officer took. it stopped a tragic event that could have been a lot worse. there was a service going on with many people at that location. what we've done now is it's taken most of the day to clear that area, the search itself and the surrounding area because of conflicting reports we got about how many people may be involved. we just were able to clear it. what we are going to be doing, we have numerous individuals that are deceased at this point. i don't have total numbers for you right now. we are working on that. we are going in there shortly. the fbi will be handling the criminal investigation on this incident. we looked at it, the scope of it and what the implications might be. we are treating this as a domestic terrorist type incident. therefore, the fbi has the resources needed to help investigate that. the atf is involved with this,

along with the waukee d.a. department is assisting us. the number you were given out earlier is for family or friends who want information. we ask only family or friends call that number, then we can forward it through a liaison we have with the sikh community as far as the status of those individuals. we do not want the media or anyone else calling that number. that is just for family and friends trying to find out the status of those individuals. at this point, we are pretty much doing an investigation that is going to be starting shortly. we are going to be doing another press conference. probably 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning at the old creek police department. right now we are at the beginning stages of this investigation and wrapping up the inner perimeter and the initial call that we took and

just clearing that. so the investigation starts now. at this point, i'm not going to give out demographics of hwho te individuals may be as far as names, ages and gender. as far as the police officer, he has family that still needs to be notified. >> how many injured, chief? >> far as we know, there are multiple injured. i believe there are two additional. we have seven deceased, including three injured including our officer. >> how many? >> seven deceased, three injured, including our officer. >> what do you know about the suspect? >> right now i don't have any information on the suspect. that is being checked into and is part of the criminal investigation. i won't be giving you anything about that right now. >> what about a weapon? >> domestic terrorism? >> domestic terrorism is somebody doing active terrorism within the confines of the

united states. it's not from another country or anything like that. it's within the united states. >> have you recovered a weapon? >> as far as a weapon, there are weapons on scene. that hasn't been covered yet. the evidence team hasn't gone in. there are weapons involved that will be recovered. >> is there more than one gun? >> i don't know that. >> will the area be open to the public? >> as far as a timeline, the initial call came in somewhere right around 10:30, i don't have the exact time. the officers were on the radio giving the information they were treating someone. we had another officer call out that he had an active shooter. at that point, that's when other officers responded and other agencies were called in. it happened within a very short period of time like most of the instances when they happen, that's how they happen. it takes place very quickly. >> any acts of heroism from people who were inside the temple? >> that i don't have. i'm sure there were. there were a lot of people interviewed. i don't know the results of

those interviews. i'm sure there were. >> how many people are still in the temple? >> there is nobody left in that temple. the building has been cleared and everybody has been removed. >> i'm sorry, ma'am? >> when will the temple be available to open prayers? >> i don't have that information. that is a crime scene. >> what else can you say about the suspect being engaged? >> when he engaged our officer and he ended up shooting him, another officer was on scene, he engaged that officer shooting him. our officer returned fire killing the suspect. >> what was the suspect wearing? >> i have no idea. >> more than one shooter? >> we had multiple reports of different things. that's why it's still an active scene. i can't give you the total information on that. we believe there was one. i can't be sure. there is still an active scene with s.w.a.t. teams in there. >> can you confirm the number of children? >> i can't confirm. it was a church service.

i'm sure there were people from all different age groups in the building. >> can you describe why it took a while for your officers to move in? >> that was the police press conference. all that played out live here on cnn. there was a live press conference from the hospital. you'll hear that in moments. >> we've been hearing stories all day long about people that have been on the scene at the time of the shooting. some had family members who were shot. >> at approximately 11:18, received a call from emergency responders at the scene in oak creek. we mobilized the appropriate physicians, nurses and operating personnel to care for the victims. this is consistent with the many drills we run to be prepared for mass casualty situations as a level one trauma center. these drills are done in conjunction and collaboration with our local emergency

response teams. only three victims were brought to froedtert hospital. they are all adult males and all currently in critical condition. they are all victims of gun shot wounds. one suffered injuries to the abdomen and chest. one suffered injuries to the extremities and face. and one suffered injuries to the neck. patients are all currently being treated for these injuries. two patients have undergone surgery, and one patient is currently undergoing a complex procedure. one of the victims is an oak creek police officer. as a level one trauma center caring for three patients with gun shot wounds at a single point in time is unfortunately not uncommon. we will be providing an update at 8:30 p.m.

again, our thoughts and prayers are with all those who were affected by this tragic situation. thank you very much. >> absolutely a tragic situation. terrible. >> three victims being treated at that hospital. at one point this morning, we thought there were many more than that. if there is any bright spot out of this, i suppose that more weren't hurt. >> much more details are unfolding about what exactly happened in the temple in wisconsin. obviously, a tragic day for the country, but especially for the people directly involved. as i have said here, can you imagine being at a house of worship and having this unfold, being confronted by a gunman when you have your children there right in front of you? just a terrible incident. cnn's ted rollins on the scene for us. he'll have a live report coming up in moments. it's the little things in life that make me smile.

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all afternoon long we've been hearing stories from family members of some of the victims that were inside that temple, some of whom were actually shot. listen to some of this. >> he told me about it. there is an initial state of you don't believe it. you call your relatives and find out what's going on. my uncle was shot and supposedly is at the hospital now. we are trying to figure out which hospital. my aunt was trapped in a closet calling, trying to communicate out. she, i guess, recently is out. she is in the custody of police. we are waiting to hear and hope everything happens for the best and they capture these guys. >> so much fear, confusion following that situation. we rely so heavily on our affiliate reporters and their video. >> they were there on the scene. >> that's what they cover every single day. >> now ted rollins on the scene. earlier we were talking to ted. you were describing about a mile away that police were in a

formation looking to do a sweep. what transpired since then? >> reporter: yeah, rob and don. i left that area. it's about a half mile now that i traveled away from here. it's a wooded area where s.w.a.t. team members with canine units, guns drawn are traversing the back portion where the temple is extending back by a half mile. it is a heavily wooded area. they went into the backyard of a specific home adjacent to this wooded area. whether or not this backyard has anything to do with the investigation specifically or not or they just included it in their grid search. they didn't go into every backyard. i tried to ask questions out at the scene and they would not answer them. we'll try to figure out exactly what they are doing. it's an active investigation. they are getting help from multiple agencies, including the federal government. they are actively looking for clues and actively pursuing, office establishing the shooter

and where he is from, his motivation and the rest of it. one of the people that can help shed light on this is a gentleman working as an interpreter for, and i believe we heard a little from him earlier. he's been working as an interpreter for the police talking to witnesses. one of the things that is still within the community a bit of a mystery is how many shooters. the investigators believe only one shooter took place here. you talked to the witnesses and you are still not fully convinced. there may be two. what is your gut? you think there is just one shooter? >> my gut is there is probably just one. there are some accounts that conflict in a way that maybe there's two in terms of hearing multiple gun shots. it's a question of whether an echo or gun shots of policemen or another gunman. >> reporter: you did hear witness testimony on the actual

shooter. you're saying according to witnesses, he had a 9/11 tattoo, he was a caucasian male. what else can you tell us about this that you heard from witnesses? the shooter. >> basically, he was fairly tall, around 6 foot. he was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. in terms of the actual description, supposedly he might have been driving a red car. we could get a license plate on it. that's what we understand up to this point. >> reporter: at the scene for us, tell us about the layout of the temple and what witnesses told new terms of where the shooting took place. this was about an hour before most of the people would be arriving for the 11:30 service. tell us what you can in terms of what you heard and what happened. >> essentially the temple is located off the street. there is a large parking lot once you drive in a little bit. one of the gunman opened fire at the entrance of the parking lot killing at least one, if not two

people there the gunman proceeded to enter. i'm not sure where the gun shots were fired at that point. it might have been in this area just outside the religious room where we keep our holy book and where people pray. people from the kitchen heard it. they fled. and then he went into the holy room and opened fire on some individuals there, injuring multiple, mainly turbanned individuals. beyond that, he did open fire as he went to another area off to the side where the kitchen area was where a lot of the ladies were cooking the food, we feed the congregation and opened fire there they were fortunately able to duck down and dodge it so there's only minor injuries. for the most part, it was most of the stuff done in front of the holy room and in the holy room. >> you say that the possible targets here were turbanned individuals.

you're talking about male victims and how say these were holy men, a few pereses, in your estimation what you heard from witnesses targeted? >> it seems the few casualties that have been divulged to me have been the equivalent of priests, the holy leaders of our people. my uncle is one of the administrators of the temple. it's mainly those individuals who have been targeted or shot. maybe it's because the ladies were fortunate enough to dodge it out, but so far most of the people i've heard have been shot and killed were all turbanned males. >> right now, a number of people are in an adjacent bowling alley where they are being held, if you will, for lack of a better term, until they can get a full debriefing with police officers. you're helping in that endeavor. give us a sense of the emotion

here. this, by all accounts, from people i talked to is a very, very closeknit group. six of your own have been confirmed dead. tell us about what everybody is going through. >> i mean there's obviously a lot of shock involved, and people are very disturbed as to what's happened. it's very solemn. everyone is thinking of their loved ones who have been hurt. there is a lot of prayer going on. people are supporting each other and other people have come in and brought food to help feed each other. we've been here a number of hours now. i think it's their community, just showing love and appreciation and trying to get each other through this. especially until we figure out what's going on with a lot of these people who have been injured and killed. we don't know who specifically is killed. we are told it's seven people. i've had my ear to the grindstone or whatever.

people are not divulging where everyone is in terms of which hospitals. we are not having access, and who specifically has died. we were given a number of seven. people are trying to figure out who that is. >> reporter: who the seven is, including the shooter, according to authorities. this is common in cases like this, obviously where there is a disconnect with information. there are still -- i talked to a gentleman who is convinced there were maybe five, six shooters. is your community having a difficult time with this lack of communication? >> yeah, to some degree. when you love someone, you just want to know what's going on. when you're hit with this type of shock, you try to understand what's going on around you. the lack of information makes it a lot harder. we sort of have to delay the ability to get any sort of closure or understanding of the situation itself. >> reporter: it's being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism. is there any doubt after talking to witnesses that this was an individual who had no ties to

the temple? >> as far as, yeah, everyone we know, this individual has not been seen in the temple before or no one really knows who he s is. completely unidentified in terms of name. in my opinion, it's a hate crime. it seems this person has this 9/11 tattoo. obviously has probably some animosity about those incidents. ignorantly takes it out on a community that he thinks are responsible, which is ludicrous in every way. not only are we sikh, we are not muslims itself responsible as a group for that. >> reporter: talk about the sikh religion. talking about a religion based on peace and unity and family and closeknit environments. >> absolutely. that is what it's founded on the conflict between muslims and hindus. it was an open-minded thing. everyone of all faiths are

allowed in the temple because god is not to judge anyone based on their religion, caste, creed, gender. that's why we keep the doors open for any one of any type. it's unfortunate someone took advantage of this, the love we try to give out. we feed people for free out of the love that god has blessed us with. it's disgusting, to say the least, that people would do this. >> ted, i think it is very well put. i want to ask. this is the most information we have gotten so far, barring the information on the investigation from police officers. can you police ask him, he talked about the shooter. he said the shooter wasn't known. he sees this as an act of hate, as he said. the shooter wasn't known. he said he was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. what can you tell us if anything more about the shooter and what he looked like, and what

information we know about him in that community, if anything? >> reporter: what more can you tell us about the shooter? we heard he was bald. you said that is one thing no witness talked about color of hair. tell us everything you do know from what you heard through witness accounts. >> essentially everything in terms of basic derrick, tscript gun he used was of an assault nature, but that i can't confirm. obviously, this person had no regard to human life. >> did any of the witnesses say that he said anything? was there anything audible? did he yell something, say anything? >> as far as i know, basically the congregation just acknowledges the sound of gun

shots. some just don't speak english. i don't know if they would be able to. there is no account of him saying anything coming in and actually saying anything. just seems he came in shooting, essentially. >> have him talk more about what the shooter was wearing. >> reporter: he would have had to have short-sleeved t-shirt? >> right. >> reporter: don was asking what he was wearing. short-sleeved t-shirt or tank top? >> yeah. he was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt as well as black pants in term of his attire. that's all i was told in terms of the way he looked. 6 foot tall wearing a white t-shirt, black pants. the bald head. >> reporter: don, obviously, we'll get more information in the coming days. this is the most detailed we've gotten. we'll be in contact with him and others as this moves forward.

at this point, looks like one shooter, an individual possibly with a 9/11 tattoo and solely responsible, looks like according to authorities. >> great information. thank you. our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this. the reason i wanted to hone in on what he was wearing because he said white t-shirt, black pants. if he was wearing a tank top they would be able to see if indeed he is wearing a 9/11 tattoo as has been said by this particular person who has spoken to people who were inside. good information. thank you, ted rowlands. >> we've got reporters in our cnn bureaus throughout the country working the phones, as well. deb has new information. ( whirring and crackling sounds )

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continuing coverage of this temple shooting in wisconsin. straight to cnn's deb feyerick with new information on the suspect and a search of his property. what do you have? >> don and rob, what i can tell you is the fbi and law enforcement identified the gunman. they are not releasing the

identity to the general public. the shooter is described as somebody not known to members of that sikh temple. they are executing a search warrant now on what they believe to be the gunman's home. it is described as a short distance away from the temple in a neighborhood known as the cutahay, wisconsin. they are going to go through the home, look for evidence, go through computers. they are going to find out whether there was any connection to anyone else. whether there may have been accomplices. whether this may have been part of something larger, whether the suspected gunman left notes behind. all of that are pieces of evidence they are going to be looking for. there were semi automatic hand guns recovered at the crime scene. one is believed to belong to the gunman. the other one to a police officer. as we were talking earlier, this is being described as a domestic

terrorism type incident. you have to think about this. six people from the sikh community were gunned down in cold blood. plus, there's the attempted murder of at least two police officers. one of them who was ambushed in the words of one of the chiefs there who was speaking, was ambushed and shot multiple times. then the gunman trying to shoot another police officer who successfully shot and killed the gunman. that whole temple, that whole area is considered a crime scene. everything is being cordoned off. everything is sectioned off. you're going to have forensic experts sweeping through there. they are going to look in the temple prayer room where the book was kept that everyone was praying with. that's where a number of the injured are described to have been located. then they are going to be looking at other areas within the temple. we are told that at the home of the alleged gunman, that a bomb

squad is on scene. they are going to be very careful. you know very well, they went through this in aurora, colorado, where it wasn't the shooting area that was dangerous, but also the home, the apartment. they want to make sure the alleged gunman didn't set any traps or rig that home so when he was discovered, that other law enforcement officers going in would be injured. they are approaching it very carefully. they are not going to be taking any chances. again, if they are going to find any information, any evidence, that's certainly the place to go. >> deb feyerick in new york, great information about the suspect's home, a search warrant. a search going on there. wonder if it has anything to do with what ted rowlands was looking at. there was a home close to the perimeter of that temple. you're looking at pictures from our affiliate wisn.

that is where ted rowlands was earlier. this home they are focusing in on, again, we are not sure if this has anything to do with the shooter. we don't have control of these pictures. now, it appears they are focusing on a neighborhood rather than the temple itself. one would presume if they have issued a search warrant and they are searching the property of the suspect that that would be the home or the neighborhood where he lives. quick break. an airline has planes... and people. and the planes can seem the same so, it comes down to the people. because, bad weather the price of oil those are every airlines reality. and solutions won't come from 500 tons of metal and a paint job. they'll come from people. delta people. who made us one of the biggest airlines in the world.

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it keeps you firmly in control. whoa! [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. seven victims in the temple shooting just outside of milwaukee today. seven dead, one the shooter shot by a policeman, all killed in today's attack. from now on it's going to be a police investigation, at least assuming that the s.w.a.t. teams and tactical forces cleared out of that building. the temple 17,000 square foot. alex manning is a former police investigator. assuming once they get those

tactical forces out of there, then it becomes an active crime scene where people like you and other investigators will go in there. what's the process? what would they be looking for? >> they are going to be there a long time, to start with. piece by piece, they are probably going to separate the temple into different rooms. go piece by piece for hair, fiber, blood splatter, any trace evidence, pictures that document the crime scene to present it in court later. they are going to be meticulous about this crime scene. >> will they treat this in the same manner as if they hadn't caught or shot the shooter? >> absolutely. >> why is that? they have the man that perpetrated this crime? >> confessions, anything like that can be thrown out if you have an excellent defense attorney. because you catch someone at the scene doesn't mean it's an open and shut case. evidence, forensics always makes your case. forensics do not lie.

>> how much time will it take? you said they'll be in there for a very long time. given the size of this place, much of the action seemed to be in one particular area, will they comb all 17,000 square feet or will they just go to the seen of action? >> absolutely. they should and they will. they'll have a secondary crime scene i'm sure which the video earlier of the area of the home where maybe the suspect lives. that's also a crime scene. the crime scene is the grounds. they probably have it blocked off several blocks. the whole neighborhood could be a crime scene. did he come in on a vehicle? on foot? are there videotapes? everything right there within the immediate area is a crime scene. i would suspect they'll be there until the wee hours of the morning. >> the police chief during the press conference said they are treating this as an act of domestic violence, terrorism, excuse me. because of that, the fbi would be leading the investigation. does that mean they're the first

ones in and everybody walks in after them or is it still a team effort? how does it all go down? >> it's still a team effort. we were an assisting agency. we were leading some investigations. they have access to different crime labs and many different things that maybe the local police department does, but by no means is the fbi in charge. they're there, they'll prosecute it federally, probably under the u.s. patriot act. someone spoke earlier about why they are calling it domestic terrorism. that's why the chief referred to it as domestic terrorism. it's any domestic act or act of violence used to intimidate civilians or government to act in a certain way or change a policy. much like the olympic city bombing. the centennial park bombing. things such as that. maybe the shooting in colorado could have been used as that. you don't know if they are out there to intimidate the public and change policies. if this shooter happens to be from a hate group taking it out

on a certain sect of people. >> we want you to hang around. we appreciate your expertise here. alex manning, former police investigator. we'll get inside on the sikh religion itself. we'll talk with a 15-year police veteran, as well about the investigation that's ongoing. we'll take a quick break. so what i'm saying is, people like options. when you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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we are back with our breaking news coverage of our temple shooting in wisconsin.

seven people are dead now according to police. one of those is the gunman. in his statement on the shooting, the president of the united states barack obama mentioned how the sikh community is part of our american family. that community is unfamiliar to many of us. our next guest is here to explain a religion that is the fifth largest in the world, but is a mystery to many americans here. he is chairman of the sikh council on religion and education and joins us now from washington. thank you so much for joining us, sir. we really appreciate it. as this is unfolding and time move once now, we can really talk more indepth about the sikh community and the religion. my condolences first of all for the tragedy which has struck your community. some of our viewers may not be familiar with the religion. it may be hard to put into words. can you try to describe us to some of your beliefs? >> well, thank you so much, don, for inviting me and having this

opportunity to educate our fellow brothers and sisters. first of all, before i begin, i would like to the policemen who risked life making sure more lives are not lost. they are american heroes. we did a prayer and meditation for their well being and their family's well-being. sikh religion is basically the fifth largest religion, as you know. the largest population is in northern india in a state called punjab. we have been here from the late 1800s. this year we are celebrating the 100 anniversary of the first sikh house of worship being built in stockton, california. the community has been thriving

and working hard and has been part of the american spectrum almost 100 years. unfortunately because of 9/11 and all the incidents leading to today, people have or many americans, people who don't have much knowledge about sikhism or the faiths of the world mistake us for belonging to taliban or belonging to a network of bin laden. i believe, and many of our community members believe that this could be part of the same cycle that we have been facing since 9/11, which is a hate cream. people mistake us and think we are against america. the sad fact is 99% of people who wear turbans in the united states are sikhs. but we are mistakenly seen as against america or working against or killing the american troops in afghanistan and iraq.

so the faith itself is very much what the american idealists are. >> mr. singh, i'm glad you were on with us earlier. as you were trying to talk about this, as you were trying to talk about this earlier, i wanted you to clarify that more. you couldn't hear me in the phone. many people thought i cut you off. i didn't. i wanted to clarify that. i don't want to confuse our viewers about what we are saying. at this point -- at that point it was more about the investigation. as this is playing out, why is this important is what my question earlier was going to be. why is this so important for you to point this bit of information out? >> because a lot of this violence is coming out of ignorance. people don't know who sikhs are. because of our appearance, we are mistakenly identified with a

group which is working against the interests of america in the world. so it is important for people out there to know who sikhs are and how they are part of the fabric of america and have contributed immensely by their hard work because that's what the faith believes in. we believe in one god and living by honest means. that means hard work. then the third one is sharing your blessings with the underprivileged or the people who are unfortunate. >> if i can ask you one more question. earlier, we were talking about muslims, which sikhs are not. hindus, sikhs, one representative says that hindus can be part of the religion and someone says for millions of years, hindus in india, there are hindus who worship as well in a similar fashion. can you clarify for our viewers that so there is no misinformation out there?

>> thank you so much for bringing that issue again. well, sikhism, as you know, it has grown in india. a majority of the sikh followers live in the state of punjab. there are many hindus and muslims who are attracted to equality and embracing everyone. they come to the sikh temples. they go to the golden temple in india and they worship. many of the hymns which are contained in the sikh scriptures has the writings of the saints who belong to the hindu faith and muslim faith. the idea was to say these spirituality is not a monopoly of one religion, one faith. it belongs to everybody. that aspect sometimes is misunderstood in saying sikh is an offshoot of hinduism or an

amalgamation of hindu and islam. the first sikh revered the word and started the preaching of this faith based on equality of men and women and hard work and believing in one god. >> mr. singh, thank you very much. i appreciate you coming on. i want to say to you and the viewers, i don't have to say this. i'm being completely transparent here. you were on earlier, you couldn't hear me. i was not being rude to you. there are people saying we've got to get to a break, get to a press conference. there are time constraints here. i want you to know that. i'm glad you came on to clarify. i think the information you gave us was pivotal. that is what i was trying to get at earlier. you couldn't hear me, but you said it perfectly. there's a lot of ignorance about your religion. i think that's ignorance about your religion. >> and don, you might want to point out the reason why we wear turban is because we have long, unshown hair.

we don't cut our hair, but we welcome anybody who is maybe not in full sikh, there are still part of the congregation, so the the turban is basically to cover our hair and it is a symbol of freedom and that's what sikhism stands for, freedom for all to progress in society and be equal partners, but unfortunately, because of the 9/11 atmosphere, this turban is sometimes or many times, people think that this is some sort of backwards sign, where taliban is suppressing woman and we are saying equality for woman. so we are totally opposite. thank you so much for clarifying. >> and the men wear turbans, but when we're speaking of women as well and the broader term would be head resz i was seeking earlier. >> indeed, the headress is worn by woman as well. the idea is to bring equality to men and women. the other thing which i want to

point out is that there are farmers in california, doctors all across the nation. taxi cab drivers, scientist, all for the stamp of this nation and we pray for, it's very unfortunate that this happened in our house of worship. but whether it's in colorado or whether it's happening in virginia tech, every american suffers through this pain. and we are going through this pain, but while they are going through this pain, we are praying for all americans and we are thankful to president obama, but i've told the white house this is the like bush's mosque moment. he ought to visit the sikh temple to show his solidarity. >> and thank you very much. we have gone about five minutes longer than my producers would have had me go on this, but i think it's important here. this is a learning situation. i kept this going because i think it's important that people know about this and know exactly what's going on cht you have spoken to the white house and

clarified it and also taught us so much in just the couple of minutes you've been on. stick around because i want to talk more with you about this and also, too, about a rush to judgment possibly. i'm sure you have some insight on that. don't go anywhere. i'd like him to stay with us, producers, and talk a little bit more. he's a great contributor to this conversation and breaking news. we want to talk more about the investigation. deb fi rick talking to her sources in new york. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person.

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this is cnn breaking news. >> we continue our coverage of the breaking news of the shooting, sikh temple just south of milwaukee. >> what do you have, deb? >> i just got off the phone with

a member of the community who tell me that family member rs going to various hospitals. they're still trying to find out the status of the injured. killed seven people, three in critical condition. we are told that a priest is among the dead. also that the president of that temple was trying to tackle the gunman when he was shot in the back. that was according to a member of the community. several witnesses are at the police station. they are being questioned about what went on in that temple. and this was a very busy time because at several times during the year, sikhs read their prayer book, their holy book cover to cover. this was a 20 24-hour, three-day stretch. they had just finished the final prayer when the gunman burst into that special room where the holy book is kept. the family who hosts this celebration, why the cooking was going on, to celebrate the the ending of the book. they were supposed to serve food

and tea over this three-day period and we were told it was being done by a family who was celebrating a child's birthday, so all these details are coming into play, but we are told that a priest is among the dead and that the president of the temple was shot as he was trying to tackle the gunman. >> thank you very much. we'll be right back. ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com solutionism. the new optimism.™ hello, everyone, i'm don lemon. >> you're in the cnn news room. our coverage of the breaking news out of southern wisconsin continues. >> we're continuing to follow this breaking news now from a suburb in milwaukee, wisconsin. i want to fill you in on what we know. seven people are dead. at a house of worship, a temple used by the sikh community in the city of oak creek. six of them were shot dead by a gunman who opened fire during a religious service. the gunman according to police, shot by a responding police officer. that police officer was wounded. two other people also wounded

here. police in oak creek, didn't have much more information -- as a quote domestic terrorist. also confidence that the gunman was operating alone also, we have been seeing pictures, live picture above a neighborhood a we have been learning information from our deborah fayerick and there it is right there. live pictures from our affiliate, wisn. also learning they have executed a search warrant on this man's home. those live pictures playing out. alex manning here, law enforcement expert. tell us what is happening here as they are executing this warrant. >> looks like they're being extra precautious, probably based on what happened in colorado. using extreme safety to go