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2 babies and 4 others shot dead in Wisconsin

Police give few details, but others say the victims were all related.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 11, 2007

DELAVAN, Wis. - Twin infant boys were among six people found shot to death in a rental house in southern Wisconsin, after a barrage of gunfire that neighbors thought was pre-Fourth of July firecrackers.

A survivor, a 2-year-old girl, was shot in the chest and found in a van nearby.

Investigators refused to describe the circumstances of the shooting, but police said they don't believe anyone else was in danger, suggesting that it was either a murder-suicide or the shooter was in custody.

"What we have is a complicated death scene, and we're investigating all the possibilities, " said Kevin St. John, a spokesman with the state Justice Department, which is leading the investigation.

Officers, responding to a report of shots fired, stormed the A-frame duplex Saturday night with weapons drawn, kicking in the door, neighbor Richard Heideman said. He saw two paramedics go in behind them and come back out minutes later.

"That's when I knew everybody was dead, " Heideman said.

As the bodies were wheeled out, one onlooker dropped to his knees on a neighbor's lawn and threw his hands to the sky in prayer.

Authorities have not released the victims' names, but Kay Macara said her 19-year-old daughter, Vanessa Iverson, was among the dead.

"My child, " she said. "I want answers."

Also in the house during the shooting were the twin infants, their parents, and the mother's sister and her husband, said Sarah Iverson, Vanessa Iverson's sister-in-law.

The 2-year-old sister of the twins, Jasmine, was in serious condition at University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.

The father of the children, 22-year-old Ambrocio Analco, was among the dead, said Marco Pastrana, Analco's cousin. He said the twins were 2 to 3 months old.

Police cordoned off two blocks around the duplex for most of the day. On Sunday morning neighbors, some still bleary-eyed, clustered on the sidewalks, watching investigators move bodies out of the house.

[Last modified June 11, 2007, 00:47:45]