The body of the gunman is carried from a school house in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.
Last Update: Tuesday, October 3, 2006. 11:32am (AEST)

School shooting troubles Bush

US President George W Bush is "deeply saddened and troubled" by a shooting at a Pennsylvania schoolhouse that left at least three girls dead, the White House says.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says Mr Bush has ordered Cabinet officials to find ways for the Government to help in the aftermath of recent school shootings.

Ms Perino told reporters Mr Bush is "deeply saddened and troubled by the recent school violence".

"It breaks America's collective heart when innocent children who are at school to learn are violently taken hostage and gunned down," she said.

Ms Perino says Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales and US Education Secretary Margaret Spellings will convene a conference next week with education and law enforcement groups to discuss school violence.

She said Mr Gonzales and Ms Spellings have met with Bush's domestic policy adviser, Karl Zinsmeister, to discuss the issue.

The shooting in an Amish schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania was the third fatal killing in a US school in the past week.

Last week a 16-year-old schoolgirl was killed when a gunman took six hostages at a Colorado school before opening fire and turning the gun on himself as police stormed a classroom.

On Friday, the principal of a Wisconsin high school was killed after being shot by a student.

-AFP