The shooter in the Sikh Temple incident I mentioned below has been identified as a white male. This is exactly the information we normally don't get—when the shooter isn't a white male.

NBC:

"A temple committee member, Ven Boba Ri, told the Journal-Sentinel that people inside the temple described the shooter as a white male in his 30s.

"We have no idea," he said of the motive. "It's pretty much a hate crime. It's not an insider."

Ri told the Journal-Sentinel the gunman walked up to a priest who was standing outside the temple and shot him. Then he went inside and started shooting."

and the Daily Mail

"The lone gunman, who was shot down outside the temple, was allegedly wearing tactical gear and was armed with a single handgun. He was described by witnesses as a white male in his thirties."

Mass shooting at Sikh temple: At least seven dead and dozens injured after gunman launches killing spree before he's shot dead by police  

We don't even know the guy's name, but we know his race, and a witness is allowed to attributed a motive to him accordingly. Compare this to cases like the Bosnian Muslim shooter in Salt Lake City, where we get the shooter's name, with no information about his immigration status, nationality, or religion, and we have to say "What kind of name is Sulejman Talovic? What could his motive be?"