Shaunsmom
08-01-2008, 07:55 AM
NIAGARA — A massive search is under way in northeastern Wisconsin for a camouflaged gunman who fatally shot three people and wounded a fourth as a group of young adults gathered at a river to swim.
More than 100 law enforcement officers from at least 10 local and state agencies searched near the Menominee River in Marinette County for a middle-aged man, said to be armed with an assault rifle. The river forms a border between Marinette County and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Nine young adults, five from Michigan and four from Wisconsin, were gathered near a train bridge on the Menominee River about three miles west of Niagara when the gunman came out of the woods and shot the four at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said.
Tiffany Pohlson, 17, Anthony Spigarelli, 18, and Bryan Mort, 19, were killed, Kanikula said. Twenty-year-old Daniel Louis Gordon was wounded. All were from Michigan.
Two of the bodies had not been removed from the scene this morning because of a fear that the shooter was still in the area, the sheriff said.
Officers set up roadblocks at U.S. 141 and Marinette County N in Niagara and along some rural roads in the town of Niagara as they searched for the gunman. Sheriff’s deputies evacuated an unknown number of homes in the area.
The middle-aged man was last seen in a wooded area near Niagara carrying an assault rifle, Marinette County emergency management director Eric Burmeister said.
Chief Deputy Jerry Sauve of the Marinette County Sheriff's Department said he couldn't confirm the injury reports. He said there were conflicting reports on injuries or fatalities.
He said his office got a call about 6 p.m. Thursday of a shooting in the town of Niagara.
Sauve called it an "active shooter situation," with all available personnel from his department out investigating.
According to Sauve, the suspect was wearing "camo clothing" and was armed with a rifle.
The Daily News in Iron Mountain, Mich., reported on its Web page that the shootings happened near the East Kingsford Train Bridge that crosses the river and is a popular swimming spot.
More than 100 law enforcement officers from at least 10 local and state agencies searched near the Menominee River in Marinette County for a middle-aged man, said to be armed with an assault rifle. The river forms a border between Marinette County and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Nine young adults, five from Michigan and four from Wisconsin, were gathered near a train bridge on the Menominee River about three miles west of Niagara when the gunman came out of the woods and shot the four at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said.
Tiffany Pohlson, 17, Anthony Spigarelli, 18, and Bryan Mort, 19, were killed, Kanikula said. Twenty-year-old Daniel Louis Gordon was wounded. All were from Michigan.
Two of the bodies had not been removed from the scene this morning because of a fear that the shooter was still in the area, the sheriff said.
Officers set up roadblocks at U.S. 141 and Marinette County N in Niagara and along some rural roads in the town of Niagara as they searched for the gunman. Sheriff’s deputies evacuated an unknown number of homes in the area.
The middle-aged man was last seen in a wooded area near Niagara carrying an assault rifle, Marinette County emergency management director Eric Burmeister said.
Chief Deputy Jerry Sauve of the Marinette County Sheriff's Department said he couldn't confirm the injury reports. He said there were conflicting reports on injuries or fatalities.
He said his office got a call about 6 p.m. Thursday of a shooting in the town of Niagara.
Sauve called it an "active shooter situation," with all available personnel from his department out investigating.
According to Sauve, the suspect was wearing "camo clothing" and was armed with a rifle.
The Daily News in Iron Mountain, Mich., reported on its Web page that the shootings happened near the East Kingsford Train Bridge that crosses the river and is a popular swimming spot.