Fresh-faced Deputy Sheriff shoots dead six teenagers in revenge for 'break-up with girlfriend'

Sheriff's deputy Tyler Peterson, 20, "went berserk" after an argument with his girlfriend, according to reports.

Fuelled by anger, he burst into her house in Crandon, Wisconsin, where up to ten teenagers all aged 14 to 20 were enjoying pizza and movies, and opened fire.

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Today, six people had been confirmed dead, with one fatality believed to be Peterson's girlfriend, while a seventh was fighting for his life in hospital.

The gunman, who had been at the same school as some of his victims, was eventually brought down by a police sniper after a manhunt.

As news of the shooting filtered through Crandon, which only has 2,000 residents, the community was in shock.

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So far, the identity of only one of the dead has been confirmed - 14-year-old Lindsey Stahl.

Her distraught mother Jenny, 39, described how her daughter how phoned her on Saturday night and asked if she could stay at a friend's.

Tragically, her mother agreed.

"I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up right now. This is a bad, bad dream," she said, sobbing.

"All I heard, it was a jealous boyfriend and he went berserk. He took them all out."

Peterson had apparently only been in his job for a week but was not on duty at the time of the shooting.

Crandon police chief John Dennee refused to confirm reports that Peterson was a member of the force's heavily-armed SWAT team.

Describing the bloodbath, neighbour Marci Franz told how he heard shots from the party early on Sunday morning.

He said: "They sounded distant at first and I was wondering if they were gunshots.

"Then I heard another succession of shots and it sounded very close to my house. Then immediately there was the sound of squealing tyres."

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Crandon is about 225 miles north of Milwaukee in an area known for logging, and fishing, hunting and snow-mobiling.

Bud Evans, an elder at the Crandon Praise Chapel, said worried relatives had gathered there as they waited for news.

"They're coming and going. There's probably 100 or more here and I'm sure they're gathered at other places in town as well," he said.

"If there's five or six kids or young adults involved in this, I'd know every one - the community's that small and that tight-knit."

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"This has been a very tragic event," said Forest County supervisor Tom Vollmar. "It's affected probably every family in this community.

"Nobody expected anything like this. I guess nobody anywhere does."

The shooting came six months after the worst gun massacre in U.S. history when Cho Seung-hui killed 32 students and staff at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, before turning the weapon on himself.