6 Killed in Wisconsin Shooting

Jun 10, 09:10 PM

Current Headlines: DELAVAN, Wis. _ Six people, including infant twins, were shot and killed Saturday night in a duplex home here, a violent rampage that left many in this idyllic resort town just west of Lake Geneva stunned.

A toddler, who was shot in the chest and apparently left for dead, survived _ a singular ray of hope amid an otherwise horrific scene.

Police remained tight-lipped about the investigation Sunday afternoon, saying only that they responded to a call of shots fired at the duplex on South 2nd Street, just two blocks from the police station. Arriving officers found all of the dead inside the duplex. The toddler was found alive inside a nearby vehicle, police said.

The girl was taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital and later transferred to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where she was listed in serious condition, said Delavan Police Chief Timothy O'Neill.

O'Neill did not say whether investigators had any suspects in the shootings but said they are confident there is no remaining threat to Delavan residents.

"What we have here is a complicated death scene, and we're investigating all the possibilities," said Kevin St. John, a spokesman with the state Justice Department, according to The Associated Press.

O'Neill said detectives were canvassing the neighborhood and interviewing potential witnesses.

"That's a methodical, meticulous process," he said. "We want to make sure no stone is left unturned."

Investigators did not release any other details about the shootings or the victims' names. O'Neill said Sunday that the county coroner had not yet notified all family members.

But relatives of the victims identified them as a mother and her two infant sons, her sister, a family friend and the infants' father.

Among the dead, according to relatives, was Vanessa Iverson, 19, a single mother who was visiting a friend at the duplex.

"I still can't believe she's gone," said Sarah Iverson, her sister-in-law. "She had a good heart. She was always trying to protect someone."

Sarah Iverson said her sister-in-law had a 5-year-old girl and an 8-month-old boy, neither of whom were with her at the duplex. She said Vanessa Iverson had given the girl up for adoption and the boy had been taken away by the state, but she remained close with both.

"She was always happy," said her brother, Duane Iverson. "She was a good woman."

Another victim was identified by relatives as Ambrocio Analco, 22. His cousin Marco Pastrana said Analco was the father of the slain infants and the injured toddler.

All three children had spent Saturday afternoon with Analco, Pastrana said. Analco was at the duplex to return the children to their mother, who lived there, Pastrana said.

"He loved those kids," Pastrana said. "I'm sad and mad at the same time. I don't know what happened."

Neighbors who lived near the duplex said they did not know the victims. Still, many in Delavan spent Sunday in a state of stunned awe. Helicopters thumped overhead in the morning, and television trucks packed the corner near the house.

A steady stream of onlookers walked their dogs as close to the crime scene as possible, although yellow police tape kept them at bay for most of the day.

"It's a crazy thing to happen here," said Chris DeVincentis, a Delavan resident. "We have stolen bicycles and a little vandalism. It's just a very quiet place."

Down the street and across the corner, Harold Wilcox, 68, and Jane Tully, 73, set up folding chairs under a shade tree in the park. They arrived around 1 p.m. after attending church.

"It's a shock," Wilcox said, as the afternoon melted into early evening.

"In these small towns, you don't hear about things like this," added Tully, of Lake Geneva.

With its leafy neighborhoods, picturesque Delavan Lake and brick-paved downtown streets, Delavan serves as a resort community in warmer months. It was here in 1871 that the P.T. Barnum Circus was founded, but most traces of the town's three-ring past are long gone.

Sunday, residents watched the media circus and tried to come to grips with the horror.

"This doesn't happen in Delavan," said Cally Kozlowski, 29, who has lived here all her life. "We don't get shootings here."

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(Chicago Tribune correspondent Jon Yates contributed to this report.)

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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): WISCONSINSHOOTING

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