Police say the man who opened fire at an Amish school in Pennsylvania Monday morning let the boys and the adult women leave while holding the girls hostage -- and then shooting them as police arrived.
Police say they found the bodies of three girls at the scene, along with the body of the gunman, who had turned the gun on himself.
At least three of the children who were wounded are in critical condition.
State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller says the gunman, identified as Charles Roberts, arrived ready to take hostages -- tying up the girls and using wood to block the doors. He says Roberts called 911 threatening to shoot in seconds if the police didn't leave. As police tried to call Roberts' cell phone, shots rang out.
Miller says Roberts shot the girls execution style in the head.
Roberts left what Miller describes as "rambling" letters to his own kids, "along the lines of suicide notes." Moments before the shooting, Roberts told his wife he wasn't coming home and would be getting revenge for something 20 years ago. Police won't say what that might be.
Police say Roberts was a milk truck driver and was not Amish.
The shooting took place in Pennsylvania's Amish country, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)