Shooting at Sikh temple in Sacramento leaves two wounded

A man is escorted to a sheriff's vehicle after a shooting at the Sacramento Sikh Society Temple, it is unknown if he was involved, on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Sacramento. The shooting occurred during the Sacramento Sikh Society's first Nagar Kirtan Parade.
A handcuffed man is escorted to a sheriff's vehicle after a shooting at the Gurdwara Sahib Temple in Sacramento during a Nagar Kirtan celebration on Sunday. (Sara Nevis/Sacramento Bee)

Two people, including a suspected gunman, were wounded in a shooting Sunday at a Sikh temple in Sacramento County that took place as crowds gathered to celebrate a traditional festival.

Officers received reports of a shooting about 2:30 p.m. at Gurdwara Sahib Temple on Bradshaw Road in Sacramento, according to Sgt. Amar Gandhi of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.

Officers arrived to find two gunshot victims amid hundreds of people attending the festival on the temple grounds. Witnesses told authorities the incident began as a fight between two men, when one of the men brandished a gun and shot the other man’s friend. The second man in the fight then also pulled out a gun and returned fire, wounding the first shooter, before fleeing on foot.

It's unclear how many weapons were recovered at the scene, Gandhi said.

The second shooter, whom the sheriff's office identified as Karman Sandhu, 21, was taken into custody around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Gandhi said.

The sheriff's office said the two victims were transported to the hospital and are expected to survive. The sheriff's office is "still sorting out some details" about what charges to bring, Gandhi said.

"All three of the individuals involved all seemed to know each other," Gandhi told KCRA-TV Sunday. "It seemed very targeted in the fact of it wasn’t some random thing that posed any danger to the other patrons other than the shooting."

The shooting happened during a celebration of Nagar Kirtan, a religious observance, that began around 9 a.m. and drew large crowds to the temple for a parade and other festivities throughout the day.

The investigation is ongoing.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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