Sounds of gunshots can be heard in some calls made to the police from worshippers hiding in a Sikh gurdwara here when Wade Michael Page, a white supremacist, came that fateful Sunday and killed six of them.
One caller whispers to a dispatcher, asking for help to be sent as quickly as possible, according to a recording of the 911 calls made Aug 5 to the Milwaukee County sheriff's office reporting that a gunman was shooting people at the gurdwara.
Others are matter-of-fact calls informing authorities that a shooting has occurred, the recording released by the sheriff's office shows, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"Hey, uh, we're down 7420 Howell. Some guy's shooting a gun. Uh, some temple or something...We've seen him go in there, so...," a male caller tells a sheriff's dispatcher.Another man tells a dispatcher he is calling from the temple and popping sounds can be heard. "There is shooting...There is shooting in this...," he says.
"OK. Did anybody get hit?" the dispatcher asks. "He's shooting," the man says, and the call cuts off.
On another call, a woman tells a dispatcher that somebody is firing and there might be blood. "It's a Sikh temple, you know," the woman tells the dispatcher, who tells the caller that officers are on the way.
In another call, a woman who likely is in the temple hiding from the shooter speaks in a voice that is barely audible. The dispatcher tells the woman she is having trouble hearing her.
In a faint whisper, the woman gives an address and says, "Sikh Temple". Oak Creek police and fire departments have not yet released their recordings of 911 calls from that day, the Journal Sentinel said.
The 911 calls began at 10.25 a.m. that Sunday. A number of calls came from inside the temple from worshippers, who also called family members. Some of the worshippers were hiding in a bathroom; others hid in a pantry.
One of the calls came from Jim Haase, a retired firefighter. Reporting the shooting, he says, "I need an ambulance... A guy came to my house. He's laying in my front yard bleeding." He tended to the man until the ambulance arrived.