2 injured in shootout at California gurudwara; 'no hate crime'

Two people who were known to each other were engaged in a confrontation which escalated to shooting during a Sikh event being hosted at a gurudwara in California's Sacramento County.

California: Two people were shot at a gurudwara in Sacramento County in California on Sunday, news agency ANI reported citing sources from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s office. Both of the victims are in critical condition, the sheriff's office said. According to police sources, it was a shootout between two men who knew each other and not related to a hate crime.

A US media report quoting Amar Gandhi, the spokesperson of Sacramento County Sheriff’s office reported that the confrontation between the two men started as a fistfight and then it escalated into a shootout. Gandhi said that one of the suspects is an Indian male who is presently absconding. The other shooter is in the hospital, he said. The police have launched a search operation for the absconding shooter.

The Sacramento Sikh Society hosted a Nagar Kirtan (processional singing of holy hymns) from Gurudwara Sahib, Bradshaw Road on Sunday where the shootout took place. Thousands attended the festivities. A parade was hosted at 10 am and the festivities were expected to go on till 5 pm. The parade featured a makeshift tourist bus which had the banner 'Never Forget 1984'.

The banner refers to the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots that broke out in Delhi and other Indian cities after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. According to some estimates, while 2,800 Sikhs were killed in the national capital owing to the riots, around 3,350 were killed nationwide.

The Punjab government in collaboration with the central security agencies has launched a major search operation against Khalistani separatist leader Amritpal Singh last week. While many of his aides have been arrested under the National Security Act and sent off to Assam, Amritpal continues to be on the run. This has sparked protests among many separatist Sikhs worldwide who have even attacked Indian embassies in Washington and London in recent days.