By Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images
President Obama discusses the shootings in Aurora, Colo, on Friday.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Monday that Americans
are "heartbroken" by a shooting this weekend in which six people were
killed at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
MORE: Temple's tearful stepmom recalls his happy childhood
Obama told reporters in the
Oval Office that Americans would "recoil" at the violence if the
victims' ethnicity turns out to be have been a factor in the shootings.
"It
is important to reaffirm that regardless of what we look like or where
we come from or where we worship, we are all one people and we look
after one another in this country," Obama said.
MORE: Police identify Army veteran as Wis. temple shooting gunman
The Wisconsin shooting came just two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people at a movie theater in Colorado.
Gun violence occurs with "too much regularity," Obama said.
Obama pledged to "examine additional ways to reduce violence" but stopped short of calling for new gun-control laws.
He spoke to reporters after he signed unrelated legislation at the White House.
A
gunman killed six people Sunday in suburban Milwaukee before being shot
to death by police. Police identified the gunman as Wade Michael Page, a
40-year-old Army veteran and former leader of a white supremacist heavy
metal band.
Obama ordered that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and other federal buildings through Friday.
Associated Press