Sikhs, others come together for candlelight vigil in Oak Creek

OAK CREEK (WITI) -- On the lawn outside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, the community came together Monday night, August 5th for a candlelight vigil to remember the six killed in last year's mass shooting.

Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Paramjit Kaur, Suveg Singh Khattra, Prakash Singh were killed one year ago, when Wade Page entered the Temple on a sunny, Sunday morning and opened fire.

"Obviously like still mixed emotions -- happiness, sadness," 19-year-old Harpreet Saini said.

Saini's mother, Paramjit Kaur was killed in the shooting. Saini says his mother would be happy with the crowd gathered on the one year anniversary of his death.

Saini says he hopes she would be proud of how the Temple turned the tragedy into an opportunity to raise awareness about the Sikh faith.

"People ask, like, a lot of questions now -- just come up to me and ask. That is what I always wanted to people to do before too. I didn’t want people to be afraid of me and not ask any questions at all," Saini said.

Leaders of other faiths were on hand Monday night to show their support and condemn the violence.

"It’s just this combination of stereotypes and guns that is really sinful," Rev. Jerry Hancock said.

Also Monday night at the Temple was a program featuring a number of speeches, including Mayor Tom Barrett, Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi, Carlee Soto (whose sister was killed in the Newtown shooting), family members of shooting victims, Elvin Daniel (whose sister was killed in the Azana Salon & Spa shooting), Colin Goddard (a Virginia Tech shooting survivor), Sam Granillo (a Columbine shooting survivor), and more.

The survivors of other shootings arrived at the Sikh Temple on board the "No More Names" bus, sponsored by Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Monday's candlelight vigil capped off a series of events held by members of the Sikh Temple in the days leading up to the shooting.