services when authorities say an army veteran named wade michael page appeared, took out a 9 millimeter pistol and opened fire. this is a facebook picture of him. a swastika in the background. it's neither the only photo of him striking a racist pose. nor the only hint of his apparently long-held white supremacist beliefs. the latest to pin down any and all hate group connections he may have had. president obama reacted to that possibility. >> i think the american people immediately recoil against those kinds of attitudes and i think it will be very important for us to reaffirm once again that in this country regardless of what we look like, where we come from, who we worship, we're all one people. and we look after one another and respect one another. >> mitt romney called the shooting a tragedy that should never befall any house of worship. there's been increased security at many sikh temples. tonight, we'll talk to local leaders here who are worried this exact thing might happen. worried about a rise in violence against the sikh community. not just here but across the nation. as always, focus as much as we can on who the victims were, what their lives were like who the heroes are who risked everything to save their lives. we begin though at the beginning. sunday morning, worshipers at the sikh temple are reading scripture, cooking food for sunday's service and preparing for a day of peaceful prayer. at approximately 10:25, that peace is shattered. >> reports gunshots. a bald male with glasses may have shot someone. sikh temple. >> reporter: a gunman opens fire with a handgun in the parking lot where worshipers are still arriving. >> the gunman basically came into the parking lot shooting, shot people who were standing out in front, entered the temple and open fired in the opening room and then went into the religious room and opened fire there. >> reporter: minutes later the shooter moves inside the temple, continuing to fire. terrified some worshipers hide behind locked doors. others rush to protect loved ones. accord to his family, the temple's leader tries to tackle and stab the shooter but shot and later dies. >> some of the ladies who were making food for the congregation in the kitchen overheard some gunshots and some of them went down to the basement where their killeds were pl kids were playing to protect their kids. >> reporter: officers arrive on the scene. >> i have someone walking towards me. i thought i heard shots. >> reporter: lieutenant brian murphy, 21-year veteran of the milwaukee police force, administers aid to a victim in the parking lot when the gunman ambushes him. >> man with a gun. in the parking lot. white t-shirt. >> he was shot between eight and nine times during the shooting. a lot of extremity shots. shot in the neck, the cheek area. >> reporter: despite a barrage of gunfire, murphy survives and remains in critical condition. the gunman apparently has no intention of being arrested as other officers arrive on the scene. >> at that point, began to give him commands as far as dropping his weapon and putting his hands up. after giving commands to the individual which he didn't respond to, he did fire. one of our vehicles took some rounds through the windshield. one of the officers returned fire with his squad rifle putting the individual down. >> the subject's not moving. >> ambulance up. suspect down. officer's down. i need ambulance. >> we have one officer shot. >> reporter: alleged gunman, a 40-year army veteran named wide michael page, is shot dead just 15 minutes after he starts his deadly rampage. he kills six people. sending three to the hospital in critical condition. and leaving a peaceful religious community wondering why. and that of course is now the question for state, local and federal authorities. ted rowlands is covering the investigation. he has new information about where the suspect purchased the gun allegedly used in the shooting. >> the gun was purchased completely legally at a local shop here called the shooter's shop. purchased on july 28th. he had to wait till july 30th to pick it up. there was nothing illegal about this purchase. this was a guy without a record who just bought a gun. >> the fbi is leading this investigation. where are they looking? >> they're talking to everybody that has had contact with him. not only here but also in other states. today, we saw video of -- north carolina where they looked at a home there where he once stayed with a band mate. according to our affiliate there, the home had confederate flags around it. they talked to an ex-girlfriend. they talked to neighbors. they're trying to just get a full picture of who this person is. >> this is what's called white power music which we'll talk about a little later on in the program. there have been reports about a girlfriend. >> what we've been able to determine talking to a former landlord is he had just broken up with a girlfriend. we talked to a couple neighbors who lived downstairs and across the hall from him and his girlfriend. and they say that he was very standoffish and once he came into the picture, the girlfriend changed. take a listen. >> like a recluse almost. he didn't talk at all. i'd say hi and he'd just go "uh" you know. >> she was nice. when he moved in, she just changed. you could tell he was running the show. she wasn't as friendly anymore. she wasn't -- it was kind of like she wasn't allowed to, like, talk to anybody anymore. >> we should note, anderson, south milwaukee police did talk to that ex-girlfriend. she was completely cooperative. according to a source, she said she had no idea something like this was coming. >> all right, ted, appreciate that reporting. local law enforcement was first on the scene obviously yesterday. a highly distinguished member of the force is in the hospital as we mentioned. badly wounded tonight. in the past 36 hours or so, oak creek's police chief has presided over a crisis, launched an investigation, comforted victims and been the public face of this tragedy. he's joining me now. police chief john edwards. appreciate you being with us. first of all, how is your officer tonight? >> i was just up, i visited with him a short time ago. he's doing much better. he's alert. can't speak right now. he can give a thumb's up. smile. >> he was shot numerous times. >> he was shot nine times. >> nine times. >> nine times. most of them are extremely shots. one serious wound. not going to get into the dynamics of that. he's got a long road ahead of him to heal. we're very hopeful. >> as far as you're concerned, where does this investigation stand? >> we're starting to tighten it up. the fbi along with our detectives, we're working together and we've moved that command post down to the fbi headquarters. they're following up and cross-checking a lot of leads it we're getting leads upon leads. we're cross-checking phone numbers. records. everything we can to see if there's any ties. we want to leave no stone unturned. i know there's talk about using the white supremacist. there's a lot of information out there. i don't want to usehat term until we want to put that out there for sure. that's not something i can take back. when we put that term out there, you don't use that term lightly. so we want to make sure we have everything in place before we use that. is it a possibility? yes it is. it might be something else. we have to check everything. >> sure. earlier in the day, there had been talk about a possible person of interest. it seems that person has been eliminated. are you confident this person worked alone? >> as far as the person of interest, they have been identified and they are still being followed up with as far as statements and seeing what they have to offer. >> okay. >> i can't say they've been eliminated. they're still being talked to. as far as our indications, this individual was by himself. that's what we have right now. indication from witnesses. that we had at the scene, the officers at the scene. indication that he was a lone shooter it. >> are you any closer to understanding motive at this point? >> it's still open. we're starting to eliminate more things and start to narrow down what it might be. there's still quite a few things we have to eliminate. >> have there been other incidents against the sikh community to your knowledge? >> no, not here. we've partnered with them. they're a friend of our community. we work with them. we don't have issues with them. we've never had any problems. no problems at all. >> and they've -- as far as you know, they haven't had problems with people attacking them or incidents? >> no, no, no red flags, no complaints, no calls, anything like that. >> let me ask you, you may not be able to answer this or may not be able to say, but is it your belief this person did not want to be taken? >> you know, all i can -- i don't want to fill in blanks without -- because we're going to have video. we have a lot of video at that scene that's going to be looked at. >> there's videos outside -- >> at the temple that have been recovered. but by the actions that our officers have said, he didn't flee. so he engaged the officers. >> well, listen, our best to the officer who's been injured and his family and thank you very much for talking to us. i know it's been a long 24 hours. thank you very much. chief john edwards. let us know what you think. we're on facebook. follow me on twitter twitter, @andersoncooper. next, the lives cut short in this tragedy. the people who should be remembered. we're going to speak with the man and son of this man, the president of the temple. saying he fought to the very end and died trying to take down the gunman. we'll be right back. 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>> anderson, this guy was really out front in this white power music industry. you'd almost call him a mini celebrity. he was involved with some of the bigger bands in the year 2000 up to 2005. that's when he started his own band, end apathy. they played at major -- i say that somewhat facetiously, major festivals of these white hate groups like the hammer skins and some of these other groups. venues where they would all get together. a group of bands and play their hate-filled music. devin bergart is an author who also tracks these hate groups. and he looks at this industry as not only a multimillion-dollar industry with hundreds of bands, anderson, but as a major outreach now for this white power movement. >> these bands are known for their recruiting and for bringing young people into the movement. they play festivals, shows and gigs around the country which are specifically designed to bring in new young people and indoctrinate them into the white nationalist movement. >> and he was very much a part of that, he being the suspect, this fellow, page. we know that -- from his website, he talked openly about major accomplishments in his life, anderson. one of his major accomplishments was starting this band, end apathy. >> i remember doing some reporting on neo-nazi white supremacist bands in the united states back in the late '90s and i actually spent some time with some of these bands and band members. there was a culture of violence within these groups at these shows. was he himself, the suspect, violent? >> you know, the groups that have been track him. you mention merchandied souther law center. anti-defamation league. really have not seen him attached to violence, other than his hate-filled lyrics. he really doesn't have a major criminal record whatsoever. that's why he was able to pick up that gun that ted row lalands talking about. drunk driving back in colorado. a minor mischief thing back in texas. but nothing violent. and we do know he took his lyrics very seriously. he gave an interview to his quote/unquote record label back in 2010. this is what he said about writing his lyrics. he said the topics vary from socialological issues, religion, and how the value of human life has been degraded by being is up missive to tyranny and hype pock crease that we are sub ju gaited to. you know what they're all about. they don't like what they call the delusion or the dilution of the white race. anybody who doesn't fit into their mold. since the national alliance have collapsed under law enforcement pressure, it's this white power music that has become really the focal point of this kind of hate group. >> and, drew, obviously, there's a lot we still don't know at this point. is it known if he was currently with any particular group or was he kind of a lone wolf? do we have any evidence either way? >> you know, the last reference i can find to end apathy was that 2010 interview that i quoted from his record label. the record that they recorded for that label was still being sold on that website. although the website has taken down. i can't see them appearing anywhere. i think they appeared at a festival back in 2011. it was the st. patrick's day festival down in florida. that's the last time i saw them, you know, being anywhere and playing. so i really don't know the answer to that. ted also talked about how the fbi was looking at his former band mate's home back in north carolina. gives you some indication this group, if it was indeed a group, maybe has split or taken some kind of a hiatus. >> yes, it will be interesting to see. i stopped following white power music as a reporter back in the late '90s. there was a group at the time called revolution records which tried to put a slick and glossy veneer on a lot of these white power bands but i'm not sure if they are still in existence or what the status of this part of the subculture is. as you said, that group, the national alliance, they've really -- which at one point was powerful within the white supremacist movement in the united states. they've really gone by the wayside, right? >> that's right. these groups now a days, because law enforcement is so good at rooting them out and basically knocking them out, you'll see a lot of these hate group, like i mentioned the hammer skin, they say they are leaderless. they are a leaderless organization. there's a reason for that. nobody wants to be the leaders of these groups because they become the target of law enforcement investigations. and that's why these festivals that take place, these music festivals that take place, are very secretive. they will advertise, we're going to have a festival in such and such a town. quo there on such and such a date. in the morning, call this number and we'll tell you where it is. a lot of times you'll see photos of these festivals. all the pictures of the people are blurred out. which is why it's so interesting we have these out front pictures of wade page in his nazi flags and nazi regalia so open. i really believe -- although we can't ask him now because he's dead -- i really believe he believed him to be somewhat of a celebrity in this movement, industry, whatever you want to call it. but, again, it's all centered around white power music, which if you haven't listened to it, take the worst punk rock, head banging music you can find, put some really nasty, hate-filled music, lyrics to it, and basically that's what you have. it all sounds the same. >> sounds like he had delusions of grandeur on some level. this is a former skin head, the author of "skin head confessions, from hate to hope." t.j. joins me now on the phone. this suspect was in a band in the thick at one point of the white supremacist music scene. explain the importance of music as a tool in recruitment. >> it's a major tool in the recruitment field. you think about if i give a kid a piece of paper to read, he might read it once, maybe twice max. if i give him a music cd, he will listen hundred, of times. that song is stuck in his head. that's propaganda you cannot get rid of. >> and that's who the target of a lot of the music is, it's kids? >> it is. there's a thing a few years back called project schoolyard. they were going after kids in junior high, high school. i mean, even one guy a few years back said he wouldn't have a problem going after kids as young as 8 or 9. >> the alleged shooter had a lot of tattoos. you say they're very important in white supremacist culture. how so? >> well, tattoos are everything in the white supremacist culture. i looked at one of his tattoos online. it had the word 14. which is an acronym for white supremacy logos. >> also, 88 i've seen has some significance. >> 88 is their heil hitler. 88th of the alphabet. >> you say acting as a lone wolf is a tactic in the modern day supremacist movement. >> it is. lone wolf tactic has been around for a while. there's a point system for the lone wolf. and they love to use that tactic. it eliminates anybody else getting in trouble. a larger group of people won't go to prison o go to jail. >> i'm also curious, t.j., about your personal story, and how you were able to go from at one point, you know, believing these hate-filled messages and to a point where you now are actively working against it. can you explain a little bit about how you got out of it? >> okay, i'm sorry, can you repeat that? >> yeah, i'm curious about how you basically changed your mind. i mean, you were once involved in the white supremacist movement. you were a skin head, you believed these things, and you evolved. how did you change your mind? >> for me, i was lucky. my kid showed me that my hatred was infected them at a very young age. i saw how it was affecting my family and my youngest children. for me, i got lucky. what i do now is i work with people all over the united states. actually throughout the world now. helping them realize how to get out. but for me it was mostly my family. my kids. if it wasn't for them, i'd probably be in prison for the rest of my life. >> we don't know wh