Man kills teens at Wisconsin swimming hole: police

MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - A 38-year-old man suspected of killing three teenagers in an ambush on a popular swimming spot in Wisconsin emerged from the woods on Friday with an assault rifle and surrendered, police said.

Police said they did not know of a motive for the shooting or of any connection between the suspect, Scott Johnson, and as many as nine people who gathered on Thursday afternoon to swim under a railroad bridge on the Menominee River.

Johnson, who was wearing camouflage clothing and armed with what police called a military-style assault rifle, was believed to have some military experience.

"A man in camo clothes appears and shots were fired," said Jerry Sauve, chief deputy at the Marinette County Sheriff's Department. "Some were able to escape. Some were not."

A 17-year-old girl and two men aged 18 and 19 were killed. A 20-year-old man was slightly wounded. The victims and Johnson are from Michigan.

The river there forms the border between Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

More than 100 police officers searched the woods around Niagara, Wisconsin, throughout the night and residents were evacuated.

Johnson emerged not far from the site of the shooting and threw down his weapon when officers approached without saying anything.

(Reporting by Michael Conlon and Andrew Stern in Chicago and Jeff Mayers in Madison; Editing by Eric Walsh)