Illinois Sikh Community Center in Wheaton Plans Vigil for Shooting Victims

As news of the , spread across the country, both Sikhs and non-Sikhs in the Wheaton community shared their concerns and sadness at the event.

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Ravi Singh, spokesman for the Wheaton-based Illinois Sikh Community Center, 2131 Creekside Dr., said the center will hold a vigil at 6:30 p.m. Monday to honor the victims of the shooting.

"We're very saddened on what has happened—we're shocked," Singh said. "(But) we're glad this wasn't racially motivated, and we're happy to hear that the media has responded. .. to be sensitive to this. This is always a concern of ours because of our identity ... because of the turbans and uncut hair we wear."

He added the Illinois Sikh Community Center has received "tons" of calls from religious leaders in the Wheaton community and Chicagoland sharing their condolences, "which is amazing," he said.

According to the Associated Press, officials at the Illinois Sikh Community Center found out about the shooting through social media.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, Sunday's attack , coming just a year after in a case that still is unsolved. The news also comes amid an ongoing campaign by community leaders to convince the FBI to .

“The Sacramento Sikh Community, like our brother and sisters across the country, is dismayed to learn of the horrible tragedy unfolding in the Milwaukee area today,” Darshan Mundy, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Sikh Temple, said in a statement. “The Sikh community has been the subject of many attacks over the years and since 9-11. At times like this, we must rely on our faith and join as a community to deal with this tragedy.”

In fact, the in the city.

"We need protection here, too," said Jaswinder Singh, a committee member at Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. "We’re not feeling safe. ... Everyone is calling and contacting the committee, asking if it's safe to come to the temple."

A 12-year-old member of the Sikh Temple of Iowa in West Des Moines .

"It's tragic, and probably a misconception of who we are," Jeevanjot Singh said. "I think it's because of the turbans, and the stereotype that people who wear turbans are Muslim, and after 9/11, people think Muslims are bad."

, whose parents are practicing Sikhs, posted this message on her Facebook Page:

"It's very sad to see something like this happen to a peaceful place of worship. Our prayers and condolences go out to the families of the innocent victims and the family of the heroic officer in this senseless tragedy," Haley said via her Facebook page.

Malkit Singh Gill, president of the New England Sikh Study Circle in Milford, MA, .

“I need to be thinking about what the next step is for the temple. We are hard-working, peace-loving people and it’s sad that one person is trying to put fear in to us,” Gill said.