Six young people killed as policeman goes on rampage

SIX young people, including two schoolchildren were killed when a part-time policeman went on a gun rampage in the US yesterday.

The shootings took place at a house in the Wisconsin town of Crandon at approximately 3am local time.

All the victims were understood to be teenagers or young adults.

After the killings the gunman went on the run and the entire community was put under lockdown while police tried to find him.

More than 100 police were drafted in from six surrounding counties to join the manhunt and the gunman was eventually located and shot dead by officers.

The alarm was raised after witnesses reported hearing gunfire at a house occupied by 10 local young people aged between 17 and 21 at about 3am local time.

The gunman was reportedly with the Forest County Sheriff’s Department.

“It’s a pretty tragic situation here,” said Forest county supervisor Tom Vollmar.

“It has affected probably every family in this community. Nobody expected anything like this.”

Bud Evans, an elder at Crandon Praise Chapel, told BBC News 24 that worried relatives have gathered at the church as they await news.

“If there’s five or six children or kids, young adults, whatever, involved in this, I’d know every one of them — the community’s that small and that tight-knit,” Mr Evans said.

The north-east Wisconsin city of about 2,000 people is 350km north of Milwaukee. The area is known for logging, and fishing, hunting and snowmobiling.

Crandon Police Chief John Dennee, speaking outside the police department about two blocks from the shooting site, would not say whether the suspect was dead. However, he said: “We’re not looking for anybody anymore.”

Nevertheless, WJFW in Rhinelander says it has confirmed that the gunman is dead on county Highway N.

According to the town of Argonne chairman, the suspect is Forest County Deputy Tyler Peterson.