The gunman who killed six people in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., left behind no obvious clues to his motive, which may never be known, the town’s police chief said Tuesday.
"We're looking at all the obvious indicators -- things that would happen in somebody's life that would cause them to snap," Police Chief John Edwards told CNN. "We're not finding anything like that. ... We may never know the motive, because he died, and that motive died with him."
Asked whether Wade Michael Page had left behind any writings on a computer or elsewhere, Edwards said that an FBI evidence team "has recovered some items, and they are going through all of that." But he said, so far, they have found nothing specifically about the crime.
PHOTOS: Gunman opens fire at Sikh temple
Page, 40, opened fire in the Sikh temple Sunday, killing six worshipers and seriously wounding three other people, including a police officer who was shot nine times while trying to tend to one of the injured. Edwards said he had visited the officer, Lt. Brian Murphy, on Monday evening.
"He was alert, he was awake, obviously sedated," Edwards said. "He looked at me, smiled, blinked, sort of mouthed the words that he was sorry." The chief said Murphy apparently was sorry that he "started a commotion" by being shot. In fact, Edwards said, Murphy and other officers undoubtedly saved lives by stopping Page before he could shoot more people.
Edwards said Page's case is unusual for the dearth of clues left behind. Usually, he said, people who commit mass shootings leave writings about their plans and motivations, or behave in ways that cause alarm among those who know them.
"We have nothing of that at this point. Nothing," he said.
Edwards said some people have reported that Page had a 9/11 tattoo that was a clue to his motivation, despite the fact that Sikhs -- who are not Muslim -- had nothing to do with the 2001 terrorist attacks. There is one problem with that theory, the chief said: "He did not have a 9/11 tattoo anywhere on his body." He said Page had "numerous other tattoos," and investigators are still looking into the meaning of some of them.
Page did have white supremacist tattoos, which can be seen in photos of him on the Internet. But Edwards cautioned against assuming that they could explain the shootings.
"Yeah, that's out there and he was involved in that," he said of the white supremacist movement. But, he added, "we may just never know what the trigger was for this."
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"We're looking at all the obvious indicators -- things that would happen in somebody's life that would cause them to snap," Police Chief John Edwards told CNN. "We're not finding anything like that. ... We may never know the motive, because he died, and that motive died with him."
Asked whether Wade Michael Page had left behind any writings on a computer or elsewhere, Edwards said that an FBI evidence team "has recovered some items, and they are going through all of that." But he said, so far, they have found nothing specifically about the crime.
PHOTOS: Gunman opens fire at Sikh temple
Page, 40, opened fire in the Sikh temple Sunday, killing six worshipers and seriously wounding three other people, including a police officer who was shot nine times while trying to tend to one of the injured. Edwards said he had visited the officer, Lt. Brian Murphy, on Monday evening.
"He was alert, he was awake, obviously sedated," Edwards said. "He looked at me, smiled, blinked, sort of mouthed the words that he was sorry." The chief said Murphy apparently was sorry that he "started a commotion" by being shot. In fact, Edwards said, Murphy and other officers undoubtedly saved lives by stopping Page before he could shoot more people.
Edwards said Page's case is unusual for the dearth of clues left behind. Usually, he said, people who commit mass shootings leave writings about their plans and motivations, or behave in ways that cause alarm among those who know them.
"We have nothing of that at this point. Nothing," he said.
Edwards said some people have reported that Page had a 9/11 tattoo that was a clue to his motivation, despite the fact that Sikhs -- who are not Muslim -- had nothing to do with the 2001 terrorist attacks. There is one problem with that theory, the chief said: "He did not have a 9/11 tattoo anywhere on his body." He said Page had "numerous other tattoos," and investigators are still looking into the meaning of some of them.
Page did have white supremacist tattoos, which can be seen in photos of him on the Internet. But Edwards cautioned against assuming that they could explain the shootings.
"Yeah, that's out there and he was involved in that," he said of the white supremacist movement. But, he added, "we may just never know what the trigger was for this."
ALSO:
London 2012 hurdles: Jump into this Olympic Google Doodle
Las Vegas police pursue red-light-blowing car, find driver dead
Ohio man suspected of killing wife asks judge: 'Is she not dead?'
[email protected]