Survivor Story: Santokh Singh

The United States has an epidemic of gun violence. Each year, more than 30,000 people are killed by firearms. More than half of those are the result of firearm related suicides. Discussions about gun control often center on reducing the numbers of firearm related deaths. Lost in that discussion, however, is that many people have had their lives irrevocably altered by firearms. They may not have died, but they have been affected by the gun violence in the US.  Here is the story of one such survivor, Santokh Singh:

Singh, 50, was a Granthi (a reader of sacred scriptures) at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee, when it was attacked in August 2012 by a white supremacist who killed six congregants before shooting himself. (Singh spoke through a translator.)

I started working at our temple in 2009, as was one of the Granthis. I lived in the temple — most Granthis live in the temple. After the shooting, my family came, so we had to find an apartment where we could all live together, and that’s where I live now. The shooting left two bullets on the left side of my stomach, so I was in too much pain, it was hard for me to function. I unfortunately had to give up my work.

We had just finished the early-morning Sunday prayer, and we went back to our room preparing for the rest of the day’s services. It was me and a few other Granthis, and we all heard gunshots outside. We knew there was a gunman, so we locked the door. We heard a knocking at the door. Prakash Singh, another Granthi, thought maybe this is my family. So he opened the door and it was the gunman, and he shot Prakash Singh and killed him. I was standing behind him.

He pointed the gun at me, and I asked him, “Why are you doing this?” And he just started opening fire. He hit me twice, but had run out of bullets so he was reloading, and I ran out. I ran through where the congregation eats and went out the back door. I ended up in one of the neighbors’ yards. Eventually an ambulance came and picked me up.

(the story of Santokh Singh is part of a series entitled America’s Gun Violence Epidemic by Rolling Stone)

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Survivor Story: Santokh Singh
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