CRANDON, Wis. (AP) -- The Forest County sheriff is responding to the time lapse between when a confessed killer showed up on the doorstep of a friend and when the fugitive was killed.

Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said Tuesday authorities treated it as a hostage situation and didn't want to rush in.

Mike Kegley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Tyler Peterson came to his house about 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Kegley's son and Peterson were lifelong friends.

He says Peterson confessed he shot seven of his friends because he just "lost it."

Kegley says he, his wife and three employees at the house called 911 repeatedly.

He says when there was no apparent sign of police or deputies by 10:30 a.m., he left the house to find out where they were.

Peterson was eventually shot when he left the house and walked toward some woods about two in the afternoon.

Van Cleve says further questions about how the situation unfolded would be answered at an afternoon news conference.

One of the six people shot by Peterson survived and is undergoing surgery Tuesday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield.