Video tape may help police understand brawl at Greenwood Sikh temple

Update April 16, 2018, 10:30 a.m.: A fight at a Sikh temple in Greenwood on Sunday may have been caught on surveillance cameras, police said.

Greenwood Police Department Assistant Chief Matt Fillenwarth said detectives have recovered video as they investigate what led to Sunday's fight at the Gurdwara Sikh Temple in the 1000 block of South Graham Road.

Fillenwarth said three or four people suffered minor injuries in the fight, which stemmed from a disagreement over leadership elections.

Dispatchers said more than 100 people were involved in the fight, but Fillenwarth said it was likely that only a few people actually traded blows.

Worshipers use ceremonial swords as part of the service, but Fillenwarth said it was not clear if anyone used a sword in the fight.

The elections can get heated, Fillenwarth said, noting that police have been called to respond to fist fights at the temple in the past.

Police Chief John Laut said he arrived at the scene after officers had things under control. Some of the injured, Laut said, were suffering the effects of pepper spray, which had been used before officers arrived.

Laut said he intends to meet with three factions involved in the dispute, and their attorneys, in an effort to resolve their differences more peacefully.

Earlier: A disagreement over leadership after a Greenwood temple's elections Sunday afternoon turned into a huge brawl that injured multiple people.

Shortly before 3 p.m. multiple law enforcement agencies were called to the Gurdwara Sikh Temple in the 1000 block of South Graham Road on a report of a large disturbance with weapons, dispatchers said.

Greenwood Mayor Mark Meyers initially told other media that multiple people were stabbed. By evening the number of people injured appeared fewer and the injuries far less severe. Meyers told IndyStar he had not been updated by police but had heard from others about the violence.

Gun-rights advocates rally at Statehouse: 'Misconception' about what proposed gun control would do

Bad eggs: Indiana firm recalls more than 206 million eggs over salmonella fears after 22 become ill

Dispatchers said reports indicated that more than 100 people were involved in the fight and that at least three or four people suffered minor injuries.

Whether any weapons were recovered from the scene was unclear.

Temple member Gurpreet Sing said that no weapons were involved and that to his knowledge most injuries were just "bruises and minor cuts."

Greenwood Police Department Assistant Chief Matt Fillenwarth did not respond to calls from IndyStar for comment.

Every two years the temple, which functions as a nonprofit, elects a new executive committee, Sing said. But he said there have been clashes within the membership for years over how the temple should be run.

Those differences escalated on Sunday when the leadership was counting donations after the afternoon service and was told to hand the money over to the newly elected committee, Sing said. He said some members threatened the president and attempted to drag him out of the building.

"It was chaos," he said. "It reached a whole new level."

Witnesses outside of the temple told IndyStar those in power did not want to step down.

Sing, who served on the executive committee for two years, said that wasn't true and tensions started because his committee began making changes such as preaching more and "getting kids involved." He said the brawl was really started by "four or five people."

Greenwood and Johnson County authorities continued to investigate Sunday evening.

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack. Call IndyStar reporter Emma Kate Fittes at (317) 513-7854.