An elderly woman wails in grief after a shooting at a Sikh temple north of Berkeley, California

January 23, 2000
Web posted at: 9:46 p.m. EST (0246 GMT)

EL SOBRANTE, California (CNN) -- A man walked into a service at a Sikh temple and opened fire with an assault weapon, killing one person and wounding another, police said.

The suspect was taken into custody after the shooting Sunday, said Lt. Kathy Samuels of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department.

He was later identified as Joga Sandher, believed to be a resident of Hayward, in the San Francisco Bay area. According to Sgt. Joseph Caruso, who arrested Sandher in the temple after he had been restrained by members of the congregation, the suspect had gone to the temple last Sunday and asked to be allowed to speak.

His request was refused, Caruso said, but the suspect returned this Sunday and again asked one of the temple officials if he could address the congregation.

He was told there was not enough time, and he left, returning at about 2 p.m. PST with "an assault-type weapon."

The suspect fired one shot, Caruso said, then went toward the temple official with whom he had spoken and fired several more shots. The official, a 46-year-old who was "one of the people running the temple," was shot in the head and died at the scene, Caruso said.

Paramedics said the injured man, described as in his late 40s to early 50s, was in critical but stable condition.

Caruso said there were about 300 people in the temple at the time of the shooting. The weapon used in the attack was recovered.

Samuels said the suspect was in his mid-30s. The dead man was in his mid-40s, the injured man in his late 40s.

El Sobrante is north of Berkeley, in the East Bay area of San Francisco.

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