One by one, the mourners in barefoot stepped forward to bow down their heads to pay their last farewell at the mourning organised at a Gurdwara just 40-kms from the scene of Sunday's bloodshed.
Dozens more stood in the lobby to register their support as there was no room for them to join the prayers.
The mourners, mostly white Americans, were touched when the grief-stricken Sikh community opened the doors of the Brookfield gurdwara to embrace hundreds who came to offer their support in the aftermath of the shooting.
"I came with my family to show our support to the grief-stricken people. It was a bad man who did the killings," a tearful Hope Bailey of Muskego told the local Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
As Bailey and others tentatively approached the entrance to the temple, unsure of how to proceed into a faith different from their own, they were warmly "welcomed by temple members and given brightly-coloured scarves to cover their heads," the journal said.
The parking lot of the Gurdwara was filled with cars by the time the funeral services started at 7pm local time. Local police squads were there to give the mourners a feeling of safety.
The Wisconsin governor Scott Walker accompanied by his wife Tonette joined the mourners, removing his shoes and donning the scarf, to enter the Gurdwara. (MORE)
