Reward offered in Calif. shooting of 2 Sikh men

ELK GROVE, Calif. – The Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $5,000 reward for information about a shooting that killed one Sikh man and wounded another in Northern California.

Elk Grove Police Chief Robert Lehner says there's no evidence the Friday afternoon shooting was a hate crime, but he says there was no other apparent motive.

Authorities say 65-year-old Surinder Singh was pronounced dead after he was shot as he walked on a sidewalk alongside another man in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove. The second man, 78-year-old Gurmej Atwal, was hospitalized in critical condition.

The council's Sacramento Valley chapter offered the reward for information that leads to a conviction. The group's executive director, Basim Elkarra, says Sikh men in beards and turbans are often targeted by those who mistake them for Muslims.