The man who killed six Sikh worshippers at a Wisconsin temple before fatally shooting himself had a history of alcohol problems and underwent a noticeable personality change in the preceding year, according to an investigative report released Tuesday. 
 
 Wade Michael Page's sister told investigators he had a bloated appearance that made her wonder if he had been drinking recently, the report said. Kimberly Van Buskirk also said she noticed her brother become more intense over the past year, as if he had lost his wit and sense of humor. He took everything literally, she said. 
 
 Page, 40, opened fire Aug. 5 before a service was to start at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee. He killed six people and wounded four others before he was shot in the abdomen during a firefight with police. He died after he shot himself in the head. 
 
 The Milwaukee County medical examiner's office, which released the investigative report, officially ruled his death a suicide. 
 
 Page's sister told authorities her brother didn't use drugs but had a history of alcohol problems. She did not immediately return a phone message left Tuesday by The Associated Press. 
 
 Online court records show Page had a history of drunken driving and a 1994 arrest in Texas after Page got drunk and kicked holes in the wall of a bar. 
 
 Toxicology reports, which would show whether he had drugs or alcohol in his system during the shooting spree, are still pending. 
 
 Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards, whose officers responded to the shooting, said it would be an "excuse" to blame alcohol for what Page did. Many people drink alcohol, but they don't commit murder, he said. 
 
 "He has those thoughts, and they're there. The alcohol didn't cause that," Edwards said. "So whether he had that or not, I don't think that's the cause or the root of it." 
 
 The FBI and local authorities are still trying to piece together Page's motive in the attack. He had ties to white supremacy groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center civil rights group, and had recently broken up with his girlfriend. 
 
 In the days after the shooting, there was speculation that Page targeted Sikhs because he mistook them for Muslims because of their beards and turbans. Edwards said Tuesday he didn't think Page was targeting Sikhs or Muslims, but he declined to explain why, citing the ongoing investigation. 
 
 "There's been no specific group he was after or disliked more than the other," Edwards said. "It was a group that was different from him. ... It's a person with hate." 
 
 Edwards joined Oak Creek's mayor and fire chief at a lunch meeting where they discussed the emergency response to the shooting rampage. 
 
 One temple member asked why police took more than 12 hours to release the victims' identities, while their relatives agonized in uncertainty. Edwards said police had limited options. 
 
 He noted that police legally cannot touch dead bodies until the medical examiner has released them, so even though one FBI agent who swept through the building was a temple member who knew others by face, that agent could do nothing to identify those who died face-down. 
 
 One police officer was wounded while responding to the attack. Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy was ambushed and shot nine times at close range. He was released from the hospital last week. 
 
 Edwards said Murphy was hit in the throat and can speak only in a whisper. To protect his voice, he communicates by typing. 
 
 "He's probably going to have permanent injuries," Edwards said. 
 
 Three Sikh worshippers were wounded, and one remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday. Another was released after 10 days, and the third was treated for a minor injury on the day of the shooting. 
 
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 Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org. ||||| Alleged gunman Wade Michael Page is seen in this undated handout from the FBI, released at the Oak Creek Police Department on August 6, 2012. 
 
 MILWAUKEE A white supremacist who killed six people during a shooting rampage at a Wisconsin Sikh temple earlier this month committed suicide, according to the official report of the county medical examiner released on Tuesday. 
 
 Michael Wade Page, 40, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after he killed six worshippers and wounded three others as they prepared for Sunday services at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek on August 5. Investigators initially thought a responding officer killed Page with a gunshot to the stomach. 
 
 The report by the Milwaukee County medical examiner also shed light on Page's disposition leading up to the shooting. Page's sister, Kimberly Van Buskirk, told investigators that her brother had a history of alcohol problems and appeared somewhat bloated during the months before the shooting. She suggested to investigators that he had been drinking. 
 
 Van Buskirk also told investigators that Page's demeanor changed over the past year, according to investigators. 
 
 "He had become more intense and had lost his sense of humor and wit and perceived everything very literally," the report quoted her as saying. 
 
 A final autopsy report showing what was in Page's system during the shooting has not been released. 
 
 Page, a U.S. Army veteran, had links to racist groups and was a member of a number of white power bands with names such as End Apathy and Definite Hate. Investigators have not determined why Page targeted the Sikh temple. Some experts have suggested that he might have thought Sikhs were Muslim. The Sikh religion originated in India and is not related to Islam. 
 
 Oak Creek Lieutenant Brian Murphy, who was also shot eight or nine times during the shooting, was released from the hospital on August 22. Punjab Singh, 65, who was shot once in the face, remains in critical condition, according to Milwaukee's Froedtert Hospital. A third injured person was released soon after the shooting. 
 
 (Editing by Greg McCune and Andrew Hay)
– The white supremacist who killed six Sikh worshipers at a temple in Wisconsin had a major personality change in the year before the shooting, according to a newly released investigative report. Wade Michael Page's sister told investigators that he had become more intense, lost his sense of humor, and had become bloated, probably due to drinking. The county medical examiner's official report confirms that Page, who had been shot in the belly by responding officers, died of a self-inflicted shot to the head, reports Reuters. Toxicology reports are still pending, but the police chief whose officers responded to the shooting says it would be an "excuse" to blame alcohol for the mass shooting. "He has those thoughts, and they're there. The alcohol didn't cause that," the chief tells AP. A police officer Page ambushed and shot nine times at close range was released from a local hospital last week.