Gun rampage town seeks to recover

Peterson's family has apologised to the relatives of the victims

Students have returned to school in a small Wisconsin town left shaken after a young off-duty sheriff's deputy shot dead his ex-girlfriend and five others.

Tyler Peterson opened fire at a house in the town of Crandon after arguing with his ex, whom he accused of dating someone else, investigators have said.

Peterson, who fled the scene on Sunday, later shot himself as police closed in, the state attorney general said.

All the victims were students or recent graduates of Crandon High School.

Schools in the Midwestern town of 2,000 people, were closed until Wednesday, although counselling was on offer to students and staff.

Pastor Bill Farr, whose church was attended by the victims, told the Associated Press news agency: "I keep thinking, like many of the families, that I'm going to wake up and this is not something that happened, that it's just going to be normal again.

"That's not going to be the case."

'No animosity'

In the early hours of Sunday Peterson, 20, had been told by his ex-girlfriend to leave the house but shortly after burst back in, Attorney General JB Van Hollen said.

"He didn't speak, he simply opened fire," Mr Van Hollen told Tuesday's news conference.

Peterson was tracked by police, to whom he had spoken on the phone about turning himself in, to a nearby location later that day.

He was shot once in the arm from a distance, Mr Van Hollen said, but died after apparently shooting himself in the head with a pistol.

Relatives of the victims have met Peterson's family and "hold no animosity toward them", the attorney general added.

Peterson's family has apologised for his actions, saying they feel a "tremendous amount of guilt and shame".

As well as his ex-girlfriend, Peterson's victims included two childhood friends and a 14-year-old girl.

A 21-year-old man survived the shootings and is recovering in hospital.