PHILADELPHIA — An investor who killed three people and himself told his victims to “say your prayers” before he opened fire, police said yesterday.Vincent J. Dortch, 44, was upset about losing money in a failed real-estate venture.

A survivor of the shootings, despite being bound and wounded, freed his hand enough to splice together wires from a phone Dortch had yanked from the wall and managed to call 911.

Dorch exchanged fire with police and then put a gun to his temple and killed himself, police said.

Dorch brought two handguns to a Monday night meeting he had organised.

Minutes after the meeting started, Dortch told his victims: “You have a minute or two to say your prayers,” police Inspector Joseph Fox said.

Dortch forced one investor to bind four others with duct tape, then assured him and another untaped investor that he did not have a problem with them.

The two investors apparently were allowed to leave the room, and Dortch opened fire, hitting the four bound men, police said. Dortch then said, “I have to finish this job,” and shot three of the men again in the head at point-blank range.

He may have deliberately spared the fourth man’s life, Fox said. The wounded man was listed in critical condition.

The shootings took place in the offices of a marketing company, Zigzag Net Inc.

Mark Norris was president and chief executive of Zigzag. Sweeney is Zigzag’s human resources manager. Dortch’s dispute involved an apparent startup company called Watson International. Police said the dead men were executives in the startup.

Watson International had been seeking investors to turn a former IBM conference centre into “a world-class entertainment and banquet facility,” according to its website. A phone number listed on the website was disconnected.

Dortch claimed he and two other investors at the meeting had lost money on the venture, perhaps as much as $500,000 combined, police said.