Shooter dead along with six victims in rampage

(CNN) -- A sheriff's deputy shot and killed six people in Crandon, Wisconsin, early Sunday before dying himself under circumstances that remain under wraps, the town's police chief said.

The assailant, Tyler Peterson, also worked part-time as a Crandon police officer.

Forest County Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said Peterson was "about 20" and was not on duty at the time of the shootings.

Schools superintendent Richard Peters told The Associated Press that three Crandon High students were killed and another three who died had graduated within the past year.

The victims were at a house party together. Residents say one of those killed is or was the shooter's girlfriend.

A survivor of the shooting was in critical condition Sunday night, and a Crandon police officer was treated for minor injuries, according to AP.

"I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up right now. This is a bad, bad dream," Jenny Stahl, mother of 14-year-old victim Lindsey Stahl told AP. "He took them all out."

Karly Johnson, 16, told AP she knew the shooter.

"He was nice. He was an average guy. Normal. You wouldn't think he could do that," Johnson said.

She said he had helped her in a class and had graduated with her brother. Peters, however, said he could not confirm whether the shooter graduated from Crandon High.

Police Chief John Dennee would not say Sunday evening how Peterson died.

Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley said the assailant had been brought down by a sniper, AP reported.

The shootings took place about 2:45 a.m. at a home in Crandon, a town of about 2,000 people 220 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Neither Dennee nor Van Cleve would discuss details of the shootings or identify the victims. They said officials would address questions Monday. Dennee told AP the victims were having "a pizza and movie party."

Marci Franz lives two houses south of the duplex where the shootings occurred.

"Initially, it sounded almost like a hammer on tin," Franz told CNN affiliate WJFW. "It was loud enough to wake me, but I wasn't sure it was gunshots."

The state attorney general's office will investigate the case, Van Cleve said.

Kevin St. John, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, said the agency's criminal investigation unit routinely investigates cases of a "statewide or significant nature."

Van Cleve called the situation "very difficult" for his officers and the community. Watch how the small town is handling the shock of the shooting »

Bud Evans, an elder at Praise Chapel Community Church, said relatives of some of the victims of the shooting were gathering at his church.

Evans said watching members of the community suffer left him with "a helpless feeling."

The Crandon School District canceled classes for Monday. E-mail to a friend

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