United States:A shooting inside a house killed six people in the state of Wisconsin in the US at the weekend and a toddler was found in a nearby vehicle with a gunshot wound to the chest, a police chief said yesterday.
Police found the bodies while investigating a report of shots having been fired on Saturday night in the small southern Wisconsin town of Delavan, Tim O'Neill said.
The wounded child, a two-year-old girl, was taken to a hospital in Rockford, Illinois, where she was reported to be in a critical condition. Rockford Memorial Hospital officials said later that the child had been flown to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where officials did not comment on her condition.
One of the shooting victims was Vanessa Iverson, who did not live at the house but had been visiting, said her brother, Duane Iverson, who went to the police station. He declined to comment further.
Police cordoned off the area around the crime scene, wheeling bodies from the house as neighbours gathered on the tree-lined street close to the police station.
"It's tragic. It's getting worse all the time," said James Brandenburg (57), who spent several minutes praying outside the house. "If we want to, we can put a stop to this."
The house where the shootings took place was a rental property where people often moved in and out, said Pete Brancheau (59), who lives across the street. He said that he heard six shots on Saturday night but thought nothing of it because children in the neighbourhood play with firecrackers "all the time". About a minute later, he heard about three more shots.
"It's scary," Mr Brancheau said. "Especially when there's a baby involved. There's no answer for it."
- (AP)