Gunman kills hostage, self in US standoff
Ap, Bailey
A gunman took six girls hostage at the high school in this mountain town Wednesday, using them as human shields for hours before he shot and fatally wounded a girl and then killed himself as a SWAT team moved in, authorities said. The confrontation at Platte Canyon High School unfolded just a short drive away from Columbine, the site of one of the nation's deadliest school shootings. The gunman, believed to be between 30 and 50 years old, was cornered with the girls in a second-floor classroom, and he released four of them, one by one. Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said authorities decided to storm the classroom after the man cut off negotiations and set a 4 p.m. deadline. Wegener wouldn't say what the man threatened to do. He said authorities used explosives as they entered the classroom, only to have the suspect fire at officers, shoot one of the girls and then himself.
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