A worshiper prays outside a Sikh temple after the shooting. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel/AP)
The man suspected of opening fire on Sunday in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., was Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old former member of the U.S. Army, law enforcement officials say.
At least seven people were killed, including the suspected gunman, in Sunday's shooting.
A U.S. Army spokeswoman told Yahoo News that Page served from April 1992 until October 1998 as a member of the psychological operations unit. He was never deployed, but won numerous medals, including two for good conduct and one for humanitarian service. Page, a Colorado native, received basic training in Fort Sill, Okla., moved to Fort Bliss in Texas and finished at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
A psychological operations specialist is "primarily responsible for the analysis, development and distribution of intelligence used for information and psychological effect," according to the U.S. Army website.
Page was discharged from the army in 1998 for "patterns of misconduct," according to CNN, citing a Pentagon official. The U.S. Army spokeswoman would not confirm or deny the CNN report.
Sources told ABC News the suspect was a "white supremacist" or "skinhead." And officials told NBC News he had "some kind of radical or white supremacist views," but was apparently not a member of any kind of radical organization. His past run-ins with law enforcement were described as minor.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Page "was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band." The band, called End Apathy, formed in 2005. According to the group's MySpace page, its music "is a sad commentary on our sick society and the problems that prevent true progress."
[Slideshow: Sikh temple shooting: Images from the scene]
An officer who responded to the scene was treating a victim when he was ambushed by the suspected gunman in the parking lot, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said. The veteran officer was shot multiple times and rushed to Milwaukee's Froedtert Hospital where he underwent surgery, said Edwards. Three of the shooting victims, including the officer, are listed in critical condition at the hospital.
A second officer shot and killed the suspect, according to the police. No motive for the suspect was released. Police searched the apartment of the suspected shooter early Monday looking for clues to his motive, Reuters reported.
Members of the temple described the gunman as a tall male with what appeared to be a 9/11 tattoo. Officials told NBC News late Sunday that the suspect had many tattoos.
Law enforcement officials are treating the case as an "act of domestic terrorism," police said, and the FBI is leading the investigation. The names of the victims in Sunday's shooting were not released.
There were initial, unconfirmed reports of multiple shooters and a hostage situation, though police said they believe there was just one gunman.
Sunday's shooting came less than a month after the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre, where 12 people were killed and 58 wounded during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."
Sikhism is a 500-year-old monotheistic faith with about 27 million followers worldwide. Since 9/11, there have been more than 700 reports of hate-related incidents against Sikhs in the United States, according to the Associated Press. "Sikhs don't practice the same religion as Muslims," the AP noted, "but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say."
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