Recovery of Oak Creek's Lt. Brian Murphy going smoothly

OAK CREEK -- Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy is apparently sitting up and in good spirits. That's the word from Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi who met with Murphy on Monday, August 13th. Murphy was shot eight or nine times after being among the first to the scene following the Sikh Temple shooting one week ago.

"He's in really good spirits. He's improving. He has some challenges he's gonna have to overcome, but it's just a God-send he's doing as well as he is," Scaffidi said.

Scaffidi also shared with Murphy some of the messages he's received from around the world.

"He wanted to talk and they're advising him not to talk because of some of his injuries, but he really wants to communicate that he's okay, that he's doing alright," Scaffidi said.

At the Oak Creek Police Department, Chief John Edwards says the rest of his men and women are finally getting some rest.

"All of our officers were working around the clock. The same officers who were at that scene were some of the same officers providing security for some of these events, so they finally had some time to decompress," Edwards said.

Mayor Scaffidi says Sunday's services at the Sikh Temple helped the entire community heal. The mayor says temple members repeated on Monday their request for the city to promote diversity and provide protection for everyone.

"If you find out information, if you learn about somebody, you will understand that hate is misguided. I think that may, in the long run, temper some of this. Hopefully we become better citizens and better able to deal with each other," Scaffidi said.

Mayor Scaffidi says he'd like to do more to involve Sikhs in city government. There's an open spot on the Community Development Authority. The mayor says he's working with the temple to find a qualified person whom he can appoint for that post.

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