Three die in US shootings

Church-goers are mourning victims of a shooting rampage that has stunned a quiet college town in the US.

The gunman in Moscow, Idaho, sprayed dozens of bullets at a local court, killing a police officer and wounding a another and a civilian, then went to a nearby church and killed a church worker and himself, police said.

“These kinds of things aren’t supposed to happen in this community,” police chief Dan Weaver said yesterday at a news conference.

Police said the gunman started shooting from a car park near the court shortly on Saturday. A hail of more than 30 bullets ripped through the county’s emergency dispatch centre, an apparent attempt to lure people into the line of fire.

“Whoever the shooter is wanted to draw people to the courthouse,” assistant chief policeman David Duke said. “When officers responded, he did open fire on them.”

Officer Lee Newbill was killed as he rushed to the scene, and a Latah policeman helped pull the officer out of the way before being shot, Mr Duke said.