Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in California reported that two people were injured during a shooting that took place on Sunday afternoon in a Sikh temple.
The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society temple located in the 7600 block of Bradshaw Road, off Gerber Road, about five miles east of Highway 99.
Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, told KCRA that the shooting is not related to a hate crime. He described the incident as “a shooting between two men who knew each other.”
He noted that the confrontation between the two men began as a one-on-one incident and escalated into a shootout.
“A suspect during that fight shot a friend of the other suspect. Once the other suspect, who was not shot, recovered, he shot the original shooter and then our second shooter ran off,” he recounted.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the second fleeing shooter was arrested at 8:37 p.m. Sunday.
Regarding the victims, both are in the hospital and are expected to survive. One of them may be arrested, authorities said.
Charges for that suspect are still pending, and it’s also unclear what precipitated the fight.
The three individuals involved in the fight were between the ages of 20 and 30, known to each other, according to police.
“They were very reckless and fortunately no one who was not involved was hit or injured in this,” Gandhi added.
Thousands of people attended the Sikh temple on Sunday for a series of festivities that would be taking place from 10:00 am, according to an Instagram post.
Due to the shooting, the activities in the temple were paralyzed for a few hours.while police officers investigated the incident. Then, they continued as normal after 5:00 pm.
Leaders of the Sacramento Gurdwara Sikh Society said they were devastated that shooting broke out during their Nagar Kirtan parade, as it was the first time the religious event had taken place in Sacramento.
“The parade was peaceful and a celebration of faith. It is unfortunate that some misguided people tried to ruin a cultural and religious event,” the Bradshaw Sikh Society said in a statement.
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