Suspicious man detained outside Oak Creek gurudwara

Washington, Nov 2: A suspicious man carrying ammunition and "strange writings" was briefly detained outside an Oak Creek

in the

state of Wisconsin, where a white supremacist had gunned down six

in August.

"This happened last Sunday. The man was detained due to his suspicious activity outside the gurudwara. The police questioned him. Later, it was determined that he was not a threat (to gurudwara). So he was released," Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi told PTI.

In a report released yesterday, the Oak Creek Police Department said the 32-year-old man from Maryland was found with 9mm ammunition and "strange writings" in his possession outside the Wisconsin gurudwara.

He was seen entering the gurudwara premises at about 8:45 am. The gurudwara was the scene of a mass shooting by a white supremacist in August that killed six Sikh worshippers, sending shock waves across the country and the Sikh community world-over.

The man, whose identity has not been released, first told the police that he drove to gurudwara after seeing a CNN story about the shooting and wanted to pray with its members.

Later, he changed his version and said that he was writing a book and wanted to talk to the people there.

"Officers located a large amount of zip ties and a roll of duct tape in the backpack (of the man) as well as a notebook containing strange writings referencing the mass shooting in Aurora CO (where a gunman had killed 12 people inside a cinema hall) and a piece of crime scene tape collected from the scene in CO (Colorado)," the police report said.

"Officers also located more zip ties and duct tape, several boxes of 9mm ammunition in (the man's) vehicle along with gun cleaning supplies and an empty case from a Glock 9mm," the report said, adding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was called when the man surrendered with his ammunition.

Thereafter, he was asked to follow officers back to the Oak Creek police station so that his writings and identification could be copied. "He was not arrested. He was only detained," Scaffidi said.

PTI