REDMOND – Today Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond) released this statement regarding the shooting at FedEx in Indiana:
“My deepest condolences go out to the families of everyone killed in this senseless shooting. Every loss of life is a tragedy. My heart goes out especially to the Sikh community of Indianapolis, which was so deeply hurt by the loss of four beloved members.
“While there is still much we do not know about the events, regardless of whether or not the motive included racial or religious bias, this demonstrates the need to do all we can to prevent these unconscionable killings.
“In Washington state, the people have taken the lead by voting to allow for guns to be removed from people who are a danger to themselves or others.
“And just last year, the Washington Legislature passed a bill to establish the nation’s first Office of Gun Safety and Violence Prevention, which will support research into the causes of gun violence and fund local community efforts to find solutions.
“We need to understand where violence occurs in our communities and how we can address it. We don’t need to wait until shots have been fired — we need to intervene to prevent violence before it happens.
“In a country where we prioritized every person’s life, we would not have lost Amarjeet Kaur Johal, Karli Smith, Matthew R Alexander, Samaria Blackwell, Jasvinder Kaur, Jaswinder Singh, Amarjit Sekhon, and John Weisert this week.”
