Temple Shooting: Tuesday Updates

This story will be updated throughout the day Tuesday as developments following the Sikh Temple shootings unfold. Last update: 3:50 p.m.

Oak Creek is bracing for a large turnout at tonight's National Night Out, which will include a vigil at 8:30 p.m.

The festivities will be held as scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. After 8 p.m., members of the Sikh Temple will lead a flashlight walk to the Miller Park pond on the grounds of Oak Creek High School.

Mayor Steve Scaffidi and other officials will speak to the crowd about 8:30 p.m.

Parking and shuttles for the event will be available at Oak Creek East Middle School, 9330 S. Shepard Ave. Shuttles begin service at 5:30 p.m. and will run as long as needed.

Parking will also be available at Oak Creek High School and the parking lots of nearby T.J. Maxx and Pick 'n Save.

Over on the Oak Creek Patch Facebook page, there's an effort to get all attendees to wear blue and white.

for more important information on tonight's National Night Out.

Meanwhile, as more information emerges about the Wade Michael Page, the suspect in Sunday's shootings, Sikhs believes the attack is a hate crime, according to the Sikh Coalition.

"While we understand that all the facts are yet to be determined, there is a growing consensus that hate was a significant motivator in what happened this past Sunday," Sikh Coalition Executive Director Sapreet Kaur said in a news release. "It is tragic, but unfortunately not surprising, that the shooter specifically chose a place of worship to commit this massacre. If, as it now seems, hate is confirmed as the motivation for what happened here, it is important that we redouble our collective efforts to build a nation where this type of racial and ethnic hate has no sanction."

The Sikh Coalition is holding interfaith vigils across the country tomorrow night.

OTHER UPDATES:

-Many city personnel are helping stage National Night Out tonight. The event is usually driven by the police department, but with the OCPD overwhelmed and short-staffed, people from many city departments are pitching in.

-Patch's media partners at Fox 6 have more on the investigation into the shooter, Wade Michael Page, and a possible motive. In particular, investigators are interested in his background in the "supremacist music scene."

-From the Oak Creek Recreation Department: "All Oak Creek recreation classes scheduled at the Oak Creek High School and East Middle School on Tuesday evening, August 7 and Thursday evening, August 9 have been canceled due to events honoring the members of the Sikh Temple involved in this week’s tragedy. All other Oak Creek recreation programs are ongoing."

-A large number of national media crews have remained the city. Many are staged near the Learning Edge Child Care and Preschool Center, 100 W. Marquette Ave., just west of the Sikh Temple.

-A makeshift memorial has been set up just south of the temple on Howell Avenue.

-Howell Avenue has fully reopened, but Marquette Avenue, a side street just to the south of the Sikh Temple, remains closed.

-Scaffidi said Police Lt. Brian Murphy was alert and able to give Police Chief John Edwards a thumbs up when Edwards visited him in the hospital Monday.

-Funeral services for the six Sikh Temple shooting victims will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday in the Oak Creek High School gymnasium, the Associated Press reports . Relatives say this service is open to the community.

-Through 8:40 a.m. Tuesday, more than $74,000 has been raised to help victims. Click here to donate.

-Oak Creek-Franklin Superintendent Sara Burmeister said counselors will be on hand during registration at the schools Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Grief counseling is available to students with connections to any of the victims or their families.

-Howell Avenue between Rawson and Drexel has reopened for the first time since the shootings.

-Finally, the Sikh community asked Oak Creek officials to pass along this message:

• If you wish to donate food, please donate to your local food pantry.

• If you wish to send flowers, please send them to your own local place of worship or your local Sikh temple.

• If you are moved to volunteer, please donate your time and talent in your own community.

• We encourage you to honor the victims by volunteering in your own place of worship or your local Sikh Temple.