Fatal Shooting Reported at Amish School

NICKEL MINES, Pa. — A gunman killed "a number" of people at a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday in Pennsylvania's bucolic Lancaster County, state police said. The shooter was among the dead, and a number of people were injured, said state police Cpl. Ralph Striebig.

"There are a number of people dead," Striebig said. "The exact number I do not know yet."

Police surrounded the one-room school 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.

Two hours later, about three dozen people in traditional Amish clothing, hats and bonnets stood near the small school building speaking to one another, several young people and authorities. At least two ambulances had left the scene, and at least one person was taken on a stretcher to a 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 more than one patient, but did not know how many.