Nazareth Sikhs Disturbed By Wisconsin Shooting

Surrounded by farmers' fields and a few houses dotted along nearby King George Drive, you may have never noticed the resting off Daniels Road at the top of a long driveway.

For the 400 families the temple serves, however, the seclusion has become a cause for alarm.

 and many others wounded in a Sunday morning mass shooting at the  in Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee.

Police said three bodies were found outside the temple and four were inside the building. The gunman is among the dead in what police are calling a "well-coordinated attack."

"We need protection here, too," said Jaswinder Singh, a committee member at the local Sikh temple. "We’re not feeling safe."

While children -- some too young to understand the gravity of the situation in Wisconsin -- giggle and run down the temple's hallways, Singh said older members are hesitant and scared to come to temple.

"Everyone is calling and contacting the committee, asking if it's safe to come to the temple," he added.

Singh said committee members plan to contact officials later in the week to discuss how the temple could be protected.

"They want protection from the town," Singh stressed. "We need something."

In addition to worship services daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., the temple holds Punjab language and martial arts classes.

While one person described Sunday's shooting as "a hate crime," the motive has yet to be officially identified.

"Whatever [the motive], we don’t want that to happen here," Singh said. "This shouldn’t have to happen to anyone ever again."

Singh added, "The Sikh community is disturbed."

Relatives in India -- watching the situation in Wisconsin unfold live -- have been checking in to make sure the Lehigh Valley community hasn't been directly affected.

"They are calling their brothers, their cousins… they want to make sure it didn’t happen here," Singh said. "They are making sure we are all safe."

In addition to broaching the subject of protection with Lower Nazareth officials, according to Singh, committee members from Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Lehigh Valley will also meet with members from nearby temples in Easton and Reading.

The Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Lehigh Valley was established in 1999.

The local society first gathered for worship in the basement of an auto repair center in Easton. They later built a temple off Route 946 near Christian Springs Road in Lower Nazareth Township. The group grew from just a few families in the 1970s.

Sikhism is the fifth largest organized religion in the world. It dates back about 500 years and is centered in India's Pubjab region.

At the Sikh temple in Lower Nazareth, worshippers remove their shoes, cover their heads and sit on the carpeted floor. They wear an array of brightly colored clothing including turbans for some of the men. 

More Sikhs have moved to the Lehigh Valley from New York City since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It's a religion that's often misunderstood and some members are afraid of being mistaken for Muslim extremists.

Sikh leaders are working to get the FBI to more accurately track hate crimes against the community.