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 the Indianapolis and 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 Sikh community members who lost their lives are Amarjeet Kaur Johal (66); Jasvinder Kaur (64); Amarjit Sekhon (48); and Jaswinder Singh (68). Three of the deceased are women.
The violence began at 11 pm local time on Thursday during shift change at the FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis -- a time when the area was heavily trafficked with many employees arriving for or leaving after their shift.
The incident comes as the country has witnessed a recent wave of anti-Asian hate crimes during this pandemic after a broader increase in hate-motivated crimes and violence against a range of American communities over the last half decade, Krishnamoorthi said.
“We do not yet know the motive of the shooter, and we may never know for sure what drove him to do what he did. We do know, however, that the FedEx facility he targeted was known for having a large workforce,” said a joint statement issued by eight Gurdwaras of Indianapolis.