Michelle Obama meets Sikh victims' kin
OAK CREEK, Wis. -- Mandeep Singh Khattra and his family received Michelle Obama with an embrace yesterday as the first lady consoled relatives of worshipers gunned down earlier this month at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee.
"She gave us a hug and said, 'I'm sorry for what happened,' " said Khattra, 26, whose grandfather, Suveg Singh Khattra, was one of six people killed Aug. 5.
Obama spent nearly 90 minutes visiting with the Khattras and other families of worshipers who were killed or injured in the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Relatives said afterward that Obama asked informed questions that showed she had read up on the plight of those killed and injured.
She especially seemed to know the story of Satwant Singh Kaleka, the temple president who tried to stab the gunman with a butter knife in an effort to stall him so women and children would have time to hide. "The thing she kept repeating was, 'Your father was a true hero,' " Amardeep Kaleka said.
Obama met privately with the families in a classroom.
Six Sikhs were killed and three others injured when a gunman with ties to a white supremacist group opened fire at the temple. The gunman also shot Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy at close range before killing himself. Murphy was released from a hospital Wednesday. -- AP
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