OAK CREEK, Wis. (MCT) — Members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin were gathering for services Sunday morning when their peaceful world was shattered.

As worshipers assembled to eat, sing and pray, a gunman entered the temple in a suburb just south of Milwaukee along Lake Michigan and started shooting, police said. The surprising cracks of gunfire sent many inside scurrying for a hiding place, including a group of women who sought refuge in a pantry while one telephoned a relative and warned her in whispers not to come to the temple.