Ohio Sikhs baffled by fatal shooting at temple

BEDFORD, Ohio (RNS) Dozens of members of the Sikh community gathered at their temple here on Thursday (April 8) to try to understand why one of their own brought a meat cleaver to the sanctuary hours earlier, an act that led to him being shot dead by police. Ravinder Nijjar, 41, of Bedford, showed up […]

BEDFORD, Ohio (RNS) Dozens of members of the Sikh community gathered at their temple here on Thursday (April 8) to try to understand why one of their own brought a meat cleaver to the sanctuary hours earlier, an act that led to him being shot dead by police.

Ravinder Nijjar, 41, of Bedford, showed up at Guru Gobind Singh Gurudwara of Greater Cleveland Sikh temple shortly before 4:30 a.m. — as worshippers were preparing for morning prayers.

Startled members called police.


Police Chief Gregory Duber said Nijjar approached an officer inside the building holding the meat cleaver. The officer, whose name was not released, twice ordered Nijjar to drop the weapon, Duber said.

The officer shot Nijjar three times from about 11 feet away, the chief said.

Hours after the shooting, many Sikhs stood outside the temple comforting Nijjar’s family and asking questions amongst themselves.

“Why? Why? We just don’t know,” said Kamaljit Singh Janda, the former president of the temple. “Nobody knows why he did it. Perhaps he had some mental issues.”

Another temple member, Baltek Singh, said some people have questions about the officer’s use of deadly force.

“(Nijjar) never acted that way before,” he said. “Some wonder whether the police could have used a Taser or some other non-lethal weapon to stop him.”

Duber said one of the officers who entered the temple had a Taser but the officer who was confronted by Nijjar did not.

“The officer with the gun was confronted — and surprised — by a man with a meat cleaver about 10 feet away,” the chief said. “He did what he had to do.”


Janda and Singh both said the Sikh community enjoys an excellent working relationship with the police in Bedford. The Sikhs have become an important part of the larger community, even marching in the city’s annual July 4th parade.

“They know we are here very late and very early, and they always watch out for us,” said Janda. “This is very sad.”

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