Gunman kills six people at Wisconsin Sikh temple

According to witnesses, a tall, bald, white man in his 40s opened fire just before services at a Sikh temple of Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee began. The authorities said he entered the kitchen women were preparing a Sunday meal.

The authorities are treating the attack as an act of domestic terrorism. The man reportedly had a 9/11 tattoo, marking the September attacks on the Twin Towers.

Four people were shot dead inside the sprawling temple. Three more, including the gunman, were killed outside.

The gunman ambushed and shot a police officer who was responding to a 911 call and helping a shooting victim, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said.

A second officer shot and killed the gunman.

Authorities did not release the name of the suspect. They said the shooter had used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol that was recovered at the scene. Police surrounded and searched a gray, two-storey house in the Cudahy neighbourhood, presumed to be the residence of the gunman on Sunday evening. Generators and floodlights were set up along the middle-class block.

A police source confirmed that a search warrant had been issued for the house, and a bomb squad was on the scene.