Maryland Sikhs react to temple shooting - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

The FBI is now in charge of investigating the shooting at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek ,Wisconsin that left seven dead, including the shooter.

The worship service at the temple was about to start when witnesses say a white man in his 30's walked in off the street and started shooting.

The first officer to respond, a 20 year veteran, was shot multiple times.

And then the gunman turned on a second officer.

"Another officer who responded engaged in gunfire with the shooter and that man is now deceased," Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards says.

At the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation Spiritual Center in Rockville, worshippers gathered to pray for the six people killed and three critically wounded in the attack.

" No one would expect that something like to happen in a religious place," Head Priest Bhai Gurbarsan Singh says.

Attacks against Sikhs have risen since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. The Washington Sikh Coalition reports 700 incidents since then.

Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims because of their turbans and long beards.

Some in the community are already calling what happened in Wisconsin a hate crime.

"I lost two brothers after hate crimes following September 11th, 2001, " Hargit Singh Sodhi says. " That's so painful."

Some Sikh temples are beefing up security after the violence, which they say goes against everything they stand for.

" We welcome all faiths, people of all colors here. To have this happen in our backyard is a concern. Why is this happening here?" Mandeep Singh asks.

President Obama says he is deeply saddened by the violence, and in a statement says, " as we mourn this loss, which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are part of our broader American family."