Active Shooter: America Under Fire- Season 1 Episode 7: Oak Creek, Wisconsin

By: Victoria Joels

Blog Task 5

         Every time there is a mass shooting in America, the incident is often called the worst mass murder committed by one gun man in U.S. history. The mass shooting that occurred in Oak Creek, Wisconsin is no exception. On August 5th, 2012, ambulances arrived to the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Sikhism is a religion founded in the 15th century in the Punjab region in India. The shooter Wade Michael Page was an American white supremacist and member of the hammer skin nation. Hammer skin nation is the largest white power skin head group. This white head Neo-nazi group is and was constantly looking for an opportunity to lash out in injure others. The group is known for beating people and leaving them for dead on the street. Page legally purchased the handgun legally at a gun shop after passing the background checks requires. Page passed the required background checks despite being discharged from the U.S. army for patterns of misconduct. The Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards declined to speculate on the motives saying, “I don’t know why, and I don’t know that we’ll ever know, because when he died, that died with him what his motive was or what he was thinking.” However, Page’s motives were very clear. He had been reported numerous times saying an “impending racial holy war” was coming and had been tied to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups for the past 15 years. The mass shooting in Oak Creek was described by the FBI as a “domestic terrorism incident” and is a perfect example of the inefficiency of gun laws in the U.S.

Oak Creek, a small suburban farm town in Wisconsin, has a mostly white population.  Although the members of the Sikhs temple felt a need to conform to society in Oak Creek, none of them even thought a horrific act of violence would occur at the Sikh temple. On August 5th 2012, two children were sitting outside of the temple when they saw a caucasian man run out of a truck with an assault riffle. The men started shooting and killed two men outside of the temple. The children and 13 adults inside hid in the temples pantry and called 911. Lieutenant Brian Murphy was the first to arrive on scene and was immediately shot in the face by the shooter.  Lt. Murphy was shot 15 times including once in the back of the head, once in the face, and his thumb had blown off. After a horrific standoff Page was shot in the stomach by an officer and then proceeded to shot himself in the head.

6 people died that day because a sick man was legally allowed to purchase a semi-automatic pistol. The owner of the gun shop claimed Page’s appearance and demeanor in the shop raised no eyebrows despite his multiple tattoos on his arms and upper body which showed links to white supremacist organizations. In order for events like these to be prevented there must be stricter gun laws in the U.S. Its hard to believe that although this incident occurred nearly 6 years ago incidents like these are occurring on a regular basis in the U.S. The incident in Oak Creek along with hundreds of others clearly show that action must be taken to prevent another mass shooting from occurring.