Colorado school gunman homeless

The gunman who took students hostage at a Colorado high school and killed a girl was 53, lived out of his car, and sexually assaulted at least one hostage, police said yesterday.

The gunman, who shot the girl, then himself, as police stormed the classroom on Wednesday, was named as Duane Morrison of Denver by Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener. The sheriff said the motive remained a mystery and the killing had scarred the small commuter town of Bailey, Colorado.

"He did traumatise and assault our children... he's terrorized our community," Mr Wegener told reporters in a news conference in Bailey. "My small county's gone," he said.

He characterised the trauma to the hostages as "sexual in nature" but gave no more details.

Two weapons - a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol - were found on Morrison when authorities removed his body early yesterday, Mr Wegener said.

The shooting drew comparisons to the 1999 Columbine killings that took place 50 km away in Littleton, Colorado. At Columbine High School, two students shot and killed 13 people and wounded 21, then committed suicide.

Morrison initially took six girls hostage and released all but two. Mr Wegener said he decided to storm the classroom at Platte Canyon High School after Morrison set a deadline and warned "something would happen".

The gunman had made few demands other than "leave me alone" and "get out of here", during talks with police negotiators, Mr Wegener said.

Morrison had no known connections with the area, and a "very minor" criminal record, he said. Investigators were interviewing Morrison's family members.

Autopsies would be performed, he said.