SNIPER KILLS 2 IN CHAPEL HILL

A gunman opened fire with a high-powered rifle in the university town of Chapel Hill, N.C., about 2 p.m. today, ripping off as many as three dozen shots that killed two people and wounded a bystander who tackled him, as well as a female police officer. After hiding in a doorway for nearly an hour, he was shot by police, then tackled by a student who is a Marine, as he tried to reload. One of the dead apparently was a student who was trying to get away on a bicycle as the shooter made his way down a crowded street. The gunfire reportedly began outside the town's courthouse, across the street from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It looked like he shot at anyone he encountered," said Orange County District Attorney Carl Fox, whose office lies steps away from the crime scene.