NICKEL MINES, Pa. — A gunman killed six people at a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday morning in Pennsylvania’s bucolic Lancaster County, and several others were taken to hospitals with injuries, authorities said.
“So far, six confirmed dead, and the helicopters are pulling into (Lancaster General Hospital) like crazy,” Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said.
It was unclear if the shooter was among the six. State Police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said earlier that the shooter was dead.
Three girls, all in critical condition with gunshot wounds, were admitted to Lancaster General Hospital, spokesman John Lines told WGAL-TV. Officials at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center confirmed that victims also were being admitted there. A spokeswoman said the hospital anticipated more than one patient.
Police surrounded the one-room school in southeast Lancaster County late Monday morning, and the Lancaster County 911 Web site reported that dozens of emergency units were dispatched to a “medical emergency” at 10:45 a.m.
Three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, broad-brimmed hats and bonnets stood near the small school building, surrounded by a low white fence, speaking to one another and authorities. Others gathered with a group of children at a nearby farm while investigators stretched out in a line across a field searching for evidence.
The school is situated among farmlands just outside Nickel Mines, a tiny village about 55 miles west of Philadelphia.
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