S
Shattered
Guest
WASHINGTON : A gunman opened fire at a religious service being held in a hotel in the northern city of Brookfield, Wisconsin, Saturday, killing seven people before turning the weapon fatally on himself, police said.
Another four people were wounded in the incident and rushed to the hospital, where most remain in stable condition, Gene Purno, a police department spokeswoman, told AFP in a brief telephone interview.
"We don't know his motives at this time," added Sherri Stigler, another local police official.
The tragedy started to unfold shortly before 1:00 pm (1900 GMT) when at least two church groups were holding their regular services at a Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield, a western suburb of the city of Milwaukee.
The assailant allegedly burst into the conference rooms where members of the Living Church of God were praying and opened fire indiscriminately on people inside, creating pandemonium throughout the hotel.
His youngest victim was only 15, the oldest 72, officials said.
Brookfield Police Chief Daniel Tushaus told reporters that no accomplice of the 45-year-old man, who had attacked the parishioners with a handgun, was being sought at this time.
"We believe that the sole perpetrator is deceased," Tushaus said.
A pickup truck reportedly belonging to the gunman was impounded and towed by police from the hotel parking lot. A search was also underway at his house.
But no names -- either of the assailant or his victims -- have been made public.
The man is believed to have been associated with the Living Church of God, a evangelical Christian denomination that, in its publications, takes a strong stance against what it calls "the tragic modern holocaust of abortion."
Hotel employees, who witnessed the incident, declined requests for interview.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were taking part in the probe led by the Brookfield Police Department.
The slayings mark the second shooting spree in the United States in as many days that has also left multiple victims.
On Friday, a man being tried for rape seized a gun from a sheriff's deputy and went on a shooting rampage in an Atlanta courthouse killing a judge, a court reporter, and a security officer, authorities said. The suspect also killed a customs agent as he fled police.
That suspect, Brian Nichols, 33, surrendered to a crack police unit earlier on Saturday.
In New York state, one person was shot and wounded near the town of Kingston in mid-February, when an unidentified gunman opened fire at a local shopping mall from an AK-47 rifle.
Only the courage of some mall employees who jumped on the gunman and tackled him as he was changing an empty ammunition clip prevented a significant loss of life in that incident, witnesses said.
Guess where I live? So much for the "radicals" only being on the Athiests side of the fence...
Another four people were wounded in the incident and rushed to the hospital, where most remain in stable condition, Gene Purno, a police department spokeswoman, told AFP in a brief telephone interview.
"We don't know his motives at this time," added Sherri Stigler, another local police official.
The tragedy started to unfold shortly before 1:00 pm (1900 GMT) when at least two church groups were holding their regular services at a Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield, a western suburb of the city of Milwaukee.
The assailant allegedly burst into the conference rooms where members of the Living Church of God were praying and opened fire indiscriminately on people inside, creating pandemonium throughout the hotel.
His youngest victim was only 15, the oldest 72, officials said.
Brookfield Police Chief Daniel Tushaus told reporters that no accomplice of the 45-year-old man, who had attacked the parishioners with a handgun, was being sought at this time.
"We believe that the sole perpetrator is deceased," Tushaus said.
A pickup truck reportedly belonging to the gunman was impounded and towed by police from the hotel parking lot. A search was also underway at his house.
But no names -- either of the assailant or his victims -- have been made public.
The man is believed to have been associated with the Living Church of God, a evangelical Christian denomination that, in its publications, takes a strong stance against what it calls "the tragic modern holocaust of abortion."
Hotel employees, who witnessed the incident, declined requests for interview.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were taking part in the probe led by the Brookfield Police Department.
The slayings mark the second shooting spree in the United States in as many days that has also left multiple victims.
On Friday, a man being tried for rape seized a gun from a sheriff's deputy and went on a shooting rampage in an Atlanta courthouse killing a judge, a court reporter, and a security officer, authorities said. The suspect also killed a customs agent as he fled police.
That suspect, Brian Nichols, 33, surrendered to a crack police unit earlier on Saturday.
In New York state, one person was shot and wounded near the town of Kingston in mid-February, when an unidentified gunman opened fire at a local shopping mall from an AK-47 rifle.
Only the courage of some mall employees who jumped on the gunman and tackled him as he was changing an empty ammunition clip prevented a significant loss of life in that incident, witnesses said.
Guess where I live? So much for the "radicals" only being on the Athiests side of the fence...
