"Six Minutes in August:" Three years after tragedy at Sikh Temple, Oak Creek mayor has written a book

OAK CREEK -- It has been three years since six people were shot and killed inside the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, and Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi has now written a book about the tragedy -- explaining how the city healed and became stronger after the shooting.

On August 5th, 2012, 40-year-old Wade Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others. Page committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after he was shot in the stomach by a responding police officer.

Page was a white supremacist and United States Army veteran from Cudahy.

"It started for me as almost therapy -- to tell these stories," Mayor Scaffidi says of his book. "There are images from this event I will never forget because they stick with you."

The book is titled: "Six Minutes in August."

It took him a year-and-a-half to write the book, and he says it became a project with a purpose.

"Tell the story of what happened here so that it can maybe lessen the likelihood something like this could happen somewhere else," Mayor Scaffidi said.

Six minutes refers to the time between when the first officer arrived on scene, and the moment Page turned the weapon on himself.

But Scaffidi says the book is about so much more than that.

"We wanted to be known as a city that responded in the right way," Mayor Scaffidi said.

He tells the story of how those in the city of Oak Creek came together after the shooting and worked to heal as a community and support members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. He credits Sikhs for setting the tone for the rest of the community.

"They didn`t react with anger or vengeance. They asked 'what can we do and how can we help?'" Mayor Scaffidi said.

Most importantly, Scaffidi hopes to be a voice for a group he now considers family.

"The political discussion in this country is getting worse when it comes to minority populations, so we need to do something about that. If this helps in that effort -- I`d be a happy person," Mayor Scaffidi said.

Scaffidi says he'll donate a percentage of book sales to the Oak Creek Cares Fund. Oak Creek Cares is a group that works to reduce violence in the community.

He is promoting the book through speaking engagements in Washington, D.C. and New York City.