Coroner Reports 6 Dead in Pennsylvania Amish School Shooting

Monday , October 02, 2006




NICKEL MINES, Pa. — Six people were killed by a gunman at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County Monday, according to the county coroner.

Earlier, state police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said "there are a number of people dead. ... The exact number I do not know yet."

The police told FOX News that it was in fact a hostage situation and that the shooter is now killed. There were at least 12 people injured, along with the deaths, police said. Not motive is yet known.

There is a news conference scheduled at the school sometime before 1 p.m. ET.

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The school is in Paradise Township on Mine Road, in Bart — an Amish community within the township. There are a total of 27 students in Wolf Rock School, where the shooting took place.

The Lancaster County 911 Web site reported that dozens of emergency units were dispatched to a "medical emergency" at 10:45 a.m. Monday.

About three-dozen Amish people congregated near the scene. Television news helicopters also showed a person being taken away on a stretcher to a waiting medical helicopter.

Officials at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center confirmed that victims were being admitted there. A spokeswoman said the hospital anticipated treating more than one patient, but did not know how many.

FOX News' Rick Leventhal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.