Off-duty Wis. deputy sheriff kills 6

[Starlady01]

CRANDON, Wis. - The residents of a remote northern Wisconsin community struggled to understand Monday how a sheriff's deputy who killed six young people and critically wounded another could have become a law enforcement officer.

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Tyler Peterson, 20, was shot to death after opening fire early Sunday on a group of students and recent graduates who had gathered for pizza and movies during their high school's homecoming weekend. Peterson was off-duty from his full-time job as a Forest County deputy sheriff; he also was a part-time Crandon police officer.

David Franz, 36, who lives with his wife two houses from the duplex where the shooting occurred, said it was hard to accept that someone in law enforcement was the gunman.

"The first statement we said to each other was, 'How did he get through the system?'" Franz said. "How do they know somebody's background, especially that young? It is disturbing, to say the least."

Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said he would meet with state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen on Monday morning to discuss the case.

Crandon Police Chief John Dennee said the investigation would be handled by the state Department of Criminal Investigation because the suspect was a deputy and officer.

Peterson was killed Sunday afternoon, eight miles north of Crandon in the rural town of Argonne, Dennee said.

Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley said Sunday that a sniper killed the suspect, but Van Cleve would not confirm that officers shot him.

The gunman's motive was unclear, but the mother of a 14-year-old victim said the suspect may have been a jealous boyfriend.

"I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up right now. This is a bad, bad dream," said Jenny Stahl, whose daughter, Lindsey Stahl, was the youngest victim. "All I heard it was a jealous boyfriend and he went berserk. He took them all out."

Dennee declined comment on whether Peterson had a romantic relationship with any of the victims.

The lone survivor of the shooting, a male, remained in critical condition Monday at St. Joseph's Hospital, according to nursing supervisor Penny Funk.

The white, two-story duplex where the shooting occurred was about a block from downtown Crandon, a small town located 225 miles north of Milwaukee in an area known for logging and outdoor activities. The victims had gathered for what Dennee described as "a pizza and movie party."

David Franz's wife, Marci, said she was awakened by the gunshots.

"I heard probably five or six shots, a short pause and then five or six more," she said. "I wasn't sure if it was gunfire initially. I thought some kids were messing around and hitting a nearby metal building."

Then she heard eight louder shots and tires squealing, she said.

"I was just about to get up and call it in, and I heard sirens," she said. "There's never been a tragedy like this here. There's been individual incidents, but nothing of this magnitude."

Three of the victims were Crandon High School students, said school Superintendent Richard Peters, and the other three had graduated within the past three years.

"There is probably nobody in Crandon who is not affected by this," Peters said, adding that students "are going to wake up in shock and disbelief and a lot of pain."

Peters did not know whether Peterson had graduated from the 300-student school. But Crandon resident Karly Johnson, 16, said that she knew the gunman and that he had helped her in a tech education class.

"He graduated with my brother," she said. "He was nice. He was an average guy. Normal. You wouldn't think he could do that."

The Crandon School District called off classes Monday.

One victim, 20-year-old Bradley Schultz, was a third-year student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who was home to visit his friends, said his aunt, Sharon Pisarek.

"We still don't have many details, but from what they've told us, there was a girl next to him and he was covering her, protecting her," she said, sobbing. "He was loved by everybody. He was everybody's son. Senseless."

Another aunt, Rose Gerow, said Schultz was majoring in criminal justice and wanted to be a homicide detective.

"This is senseless because they were friends," Gerow said. "These guys weren't after his girlfriend, they were just getting together."

The town of about 2,000 people last made headlines in August, when community groups and a soldier helped bring an Iraqi girl to the United States for a cornea transplant. The mayor pleaded Monday for support to help the town begin to heal.

"This is something we have to put back together," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting

[dv8grl]

i feel for these familes & for the whole town.

[freeby4me]

So many questions, those poor people in that town, I hope they heal.

[Jolie Rouge]

Deputy fired 30 rounds into Wis. home
By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago

CRANDON, Wis. - An off-duty sheriff's deputy who killed six young people fired 30 rounds of ammunition after he burst into a home where friends had gathered, investigators said Monday.

Tyler Peterson, 20, who later died after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officers, had been in a relationship with one of the victims, authorities said at a news conference. "They were in a relationship for a few years," said Police Chief John Dennee. "They had broken up and gone back and forth."

The rampage raised questions among residents of the remote northern Wisconsin community about how Peterson could have met requirements to become a law enforcement officer. No psychological testing was performed, but he had undergone other background checks and completed all required training by the state, authorities said. "We had no idea, obviously, that anything like this would ever occur," Dennee said. "Once we realized that he was our suspect, he was no longer a cop."

Killed in the rampage were six people who were either students or graduates of Crandon High School. They were at the house to share pizza and watch movies during the school's homecoming weekend. After Peterson burst in, an argument ensued, officials said.

He left to get his rifle, then forced his way back in and opened fire, said J.B. Van Hollen, the state's attorney general. Peterson fled and was later found at a residence in the nearby town of Argonne. In phone conversations with law enforcement after he fled, he identified himself as the shooter, officials said.

Though he exchanged gunfire with officers, it was not clear how he was killed, Van Hollen said. An autopsy was being conducted Monday, and authorities hoped it would tell them more.

The rifle used in the shootings is the type used by the sheriff's department, but investigators had not confirmed that the rifle he used came from law enforcement.

Classes at the high school were canceled Monday, and about 100 people — mostly teens — went to a local church to meet with counselors. Many walked in with their arms around each other for support; some were crying.

The victims were identified as Jordanne Murray, Katrina McCorkle, Leanna Thomas, Aaron Smith, Lindsey Stahl and Bradley Schultz. Autopsies were scheduled to be completed Monday.

The lone survivor, Charlie Neitzel, 21, was upgraded to serious condition and was improving Monday at St. Joseph's Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Karla David said.

Schultz, 20, was a third-year criminal justice major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who hoped to be a homicide detective, said an aunt, Rose Gerow. He was home visiting friends and appeared to have died trying to protect one, said another aunt, Sharon Pisarek. "We still don't have many details, but from what they've told us, there was a girl next to him and he was covering her, protecting her," Pisarek said, sobbing. "He was loved by everybody. He was everybody's son. Senseless."

Murray loved children and hoped to be a daycare provider, said Sally Maxon, whose daughter had been best friends with Murray since they were in kindergarten. "She's a very, very wonderful person, the nicest girl you'd ever want to meet," said Maxon, who described her daughter as a nervous wreck after the shootings.

In a statement read by Praise Chapel Community Church Bill Farr, the deputy's family reached out the victim's families, saying they felt "a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for the acts Tyler committed."

"We may never receive the answers we all seek," they said. "Like those close to Tyler we are in shock and disbelief that he would do such terrible things. This was not the Tyler we knew and loved."

The town of about 2,000 people made headlines in August, when community groups and a soldier helped bring an Iraqi girl to the United States for a cornea transplant. Mayor Gary Bradley pleaded Monday for support to help the town begin to heal. "This is something we have to put back together," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting;_ylt=Ar.fOSBWEde1JllpBGr8Ld2s0N UE


Victims of Wis. shootings were young
By The Associated Press
18 minutes ago

CRANDON, Wis. - The victims of an off-duty deputy's shooting spree were students or graduates of the same high school, and had gathered for pizza and movies on homecoming weekend. One was an animal rights activist who had just started high school. Another dreamed of entering law enforcement himself.

Here is a look at their lives:

BRADLEY SCHULTZ : Bradley Schultz, 20, was a third-year criminal justice major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He wanted to be a homicide detective, said his aunt, Rose Gerow of Crandon.

Another aunt, Sharon Pisarek, said Schultz had been home from college visiting his friends and died trying to protect one. "We still don't have many details, but from what they've told us, there was a girl next to him and he was covering her, protecting her," she said, sobbing. "He was loved by everybody. He was everybody's son."

Schultz's mother, Diane Schultz, is blind and a single parent who raised three sons, Gerow said. Bradley was the middle child with 15- and 22-year-old brothers.

Gerow said the family was devastated by his death. "He was just a good boy," she said.

LINDSEY STAHL : Lindsey Stahl's mother let her daughter sleep over at a friend's house Saturday night — it was homecoming weekend. The 14-year-old, a freshman and the youngest of the victims, was a vegetarian, said her mother, Jenny Stahl, 39. "She didn't eat meat," Stahl said. "That is what a lot of people know her for. She was an animal rights activist."

She also was interested in global warming, said her half-brother, Ryan Coulter, 12. "She probably would have changed the world, you know," he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

The family moved to northern Wisconsin about 10 years ago from Kenosha, in the southeastern part of the state.

Ashley Sheldon, 14, had been friends with Lindsey since preschool. She described her as a good friend who often helped her out. "I will just remember her smile all the time," Ashley said.

JORDANNE MURRAY : Jordanne Murray loved children and hoped to be a daycare provider, said Sally Maxon, whose daughter had been best friends with her since kindergarten. "She's a very, very wonderful person, the nicest girl you'd ever want to meet," Maxon said.

Murray was a good writer who had played sports in high school. Next August, she was supposed to stand up in Maxon's daughter's wedding, along with Bradley Schultz.

AARON SMITH : Aaron Smith was a happy-go-lucky guy, who embraced his nickname "Chunk," said Derek Dehart, who went to Crandon High School with him. "You almost never saw him without a smile," he said.

Smith and Bradley Schultz played on the football team with Dehart and helped the team to its first-ever playoff win their senior year, he said. "He always joked around and had a good time, and even when he got mad, you knew he would never hurt a fly," Dehart said.

Smith certainly was "a big guy with big muscles," said Sjana Farr, whose husband is the pastor at Praise Chapel Community Church. But she and her husband called him Spanky, because he reminded them of the character from "The Little Rascals" movies.

His parents wanted him to work at their insurance company, but he didn't want to, Farr said. Instead, Smith usually worked construction jobs because he was so muscular.

Smith was at their house every day and like a son, Farr said. He even stood up in their son's wedding. "It's extremely hard to know that Aaron's gone," she said, crying.

LEANNA THOMAS : Leanna Thomas sang with her identical twin Lindsey in the church choir, their voices merging beautifully, Sjana Farr said. "You could feel the buzz of their tone because their voices were so much connected to each other," Farr said. "It was beautiful to hear them sing."

The twins were in band and theater and played volleyball, baseball and basketball together. They were lively and artistic and made people around them feel good, Farr said. "When they walked into a room, they made every kid and every adult feel like they were worth something," she said.

Farr said she became close with Leanna because she too is an identical twin. She would try to talk to the girls about what it meant to be a twin. "Now I'm really concerned about her being left alone," she said of Lindsey. "Those two were inseparable. I could hardly tell them apart."

CHARLIE NEITZEL : Charlie Neitzel, 21, who was injured in the shooting, was a goofy guy and a good friend of Aaron Smith's, said Dehart, who went to high school with him. The two always went to parties together, he said. "He was always able to make somebody laugh," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting_victims;_ylt=AqptK9aEF3bPRaa2Dy CAy19H2ocA

[PrincessArky]

I have these families and the whole town in my prayers

[Army-Mom]

My heart goes out to these families. My prayers and thoughts are with them at this time of loss.

[Jolie Rouge]

Deputy shot himself 3 times
By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

CRANDON, Wis. - An off-duty sheriff's deputy who killed six people apparently shot himself three times, with the last shot hitting him in the right side of the head, the state attorney general said Tuesday.

Tyler Peterson, 20, shot himself twice under the chin before firing the third and fatal shot, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said. Peterson also was shot once in the left biceps from a distance.

The six people who died early Sunday were either students or recent graduates of Crandon High School, where Peterson also had graduated. They were at the house to share pizza and watch movies during the school's homecoming weekend.

Peterson died in the woods near a friend's home in Argonne. The lone survivor was scheduled for surgery Tuesday.

Van Hollen said Peterson went to Jordanne Murray's home about 2 a.m. and argued with her after accusing her of dating someone else. Murray demanded Peterson leave, and he did, only to return with an AR-15 rifle. "He didn't speak, he simply opened fire," Van Hollen said.

Investigators found three bodies on or next to a couch — Lindsey Stahl, 14; Aaron Smith, 20, and Bradley Schultz, 20. Murray, 18, was found in the kitchen.

Lianna Thomas, 18, was found in a closet, and Katrina McCorkle, 18, was just outside it. Both had apparently been trying to hide, Van Hollen said.

The last person shot was survivor Charlie Neitzel, 21. He pleaded with Peterson after the first shot, only to have him fire again, Van Hollen said. Neitzel fell to the floor, where he lay still as Peterson fired a third time. "Playing dead until Peterson left, Neitzel survived," Van Hollen said.

It wasn't clear whether Peterson was struck in the biceps before or after he shot himself.

The shootings devastated Crandon, a tight-knit town of 2,000, where many people knew at least one of the victims. "It's an unbelievable, nightmarish thing," said Pastor Bill Farr of Praise Chapel Community Church, which all of the victims' families attend. "I keep thinking, like many of the families, that I'm going to wake up and this is not something that happened, that it's just going to be normal again. That's not going to be the case."

The victims' families have met with Peterson's family and "hold no animosity toward them," Van Hollen said.

The families, the church and the town's one funeral home were still working on funeral arrangements Tuesday. Farr's wife, Sjana Farr, said Peterson's family had requested his funeral be last out of respect for the victims' families.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071009/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting;_ylt=AuGXUAPz9dnFAuqbGVWStmms0N UE

[loveswolfs]

Crandon Shooting Survivor's Family Issues Statement

Charlie Neitzel Played Dead After Tyler Peterson Shot Him
MARSHFIELD, Wis. -- The lone survivor of a shooting rampage in Wisconsin that killed seven of his friends, including the gunman, faces a long recovery from three bullet wounds, his family said Thursday.

Charlie Neitzel, 21, was shot once in the right leg, once in the right upper arm and once in the shoulder during Sunday's shooting, his family said. Authorities have said the only reason he survived was because he played dead when 20-year-old Tyler Peterson stormed into his ex-girlfriend's home during a pizza and movie party.

Neitzel underwent a third surgery on Thursday at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, where his family issued a statement on his recovery.

"While we pray for a full recovery, it is simply too early to know the full effects of his injuries," aunt Linda Enright said in reading a statement issued by the family.

Enright said Neitzel was "devastated" by the deaths of many of his close friends.

"He is deeply saddened by the fact that he cannot attend their funeral services," Enright said.

Peterson, an off-duty sheriff's deputy, burst into Jordanne Murray's home early Sunday and opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle.

Killed were Murray, 18, as well as Lindsey Stahl, 14, Aaron Smith, 20, Bradley Schultz, 20, Lianna Thomas, 18, and Katrina McCorkle, 18.

Authorities said Peterson, who also was a part-time Crandon police officer, was cornered at a friend's home hours later, and he was wounded in the arm before shooting himself to death.

The dead were all either current students or graduates of Crandon High School. The northern Wisconsin town of 2,000 is about 120 miles north of Marshfield.

Enright said Neitzel was not able to discuss the case with the media.

"While it is Charlie's strongest desire that accurate information is being reported in the media, he is not able to discuss this case due to the ongoing investigation," Enright said.

She fought back tears while reading part of the statement where the family thanked people, including law enforcement, "who assisted in saving his life."

Neitzel's mother, father and other relatives sat to the side while Enright spoke. They declined to take questions.

"I speak on behalf of my entire family when I say we love Charlie very much," the aunt said. "He is a special and unique individual, who is being very brave and strong throughout all of this. He is actually helping us cope with what has happened to him."

Friend Zack Smith, 21, visited Neitzel on Thursday and said Neitzel still does not know the reasons for Peterson's actions.

"It is not like he came in and said what he was doing," Smith said of Peterson.

Another visitor, Cristen Roberts, 18, said she had shown Neitzel video of news stories about the incident.

"He started crying," she said. "He is trying to look on the bright side but you could tell it really hurts him."

Smith said medical authorities told Neitzel Thursday it could be months before he might be able to use his arm and leg.

Roberts said he can't feel his right foot. Then she lifted up her right arm, pointed to the area above the elbow and said he was missing a large chunk of bone there and may need a bone transplant.

http://www.wisn.com/news/14320423/detail.html

[loveswolfs]

A fund for victims' families has been created at Laona State Bank. Deposits can be made at any location or mailed to:

Laona State Bank
ATTN: Family Memorial Fund
PO Box 128
Laona, WI 54541

http://www.laonastatebank.com/

[loveswolfs]

Site Of Crandon Shootings To Be Razed, Replaced With Memorial

CRANDON, Wis. -- The memory of what happened in the small town of Crandon on Sunday morning may never fade, but the site of the events will soon disappear.

Bill Farr, the pastor and community spokesman said Wednesday that the large, white house where Tyler Peterson shot and killed six young adults will be razed and replaced with a memorial.

"This house is always going to be a place of infamy," Farr said. "That house would be a representation of the violence that occurred and we want to remove that, and in its place, we want to put something that would be an honorable memory of those children."

One of the few bright spots in this tragedy is the outpouring of support, with people and businesses from all across the state are offering their help.

A Crandon company is donating food to the victims families, while Karthauser and Sons, a Germantown-based flower shop, is teaming up with a Crandon flower shop and providing thousands of dollars worth of flowers for the seven funerals.

The owner of Flowers from the Heart said the families are overwhelmed by the generosity.

http://www.wisn.com/news/14313045/detail.html