Six Killed, 1 Hurt in Rampage By Sheriff's Deputy

Oct 08, 07:20 AM

Current Headlines: From wire reports

CRANDON, Wis.

An off-duty sheriff's deputy went on a shooting rampage early Sunday at a home where seven young people had gathered for pizza and movies, killing six and critically injuring the other before he was killed by authorities , officials said.

The gunman, Tyler Peterson, 20, was a full-time Forest County deputy sheriff and a part-time Crandon police officer, said p olice Chief John Dennee.

Three of the victims were students at Crandon High School, and three were recent graduates, a school official said. The gunman may have graduated from the same high school.

Peterson was not on duty at the time of the shooting, Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said.

The survivor was hospitalized in nearby Marshfield, Dennee said. A Crandon police officer who fired back was treated for minor injuries and released.

Gary Bradley, mayor of the city of about 2,000, said earlier Sunday that Peterson had been shot by a police sniper, but Van Cleve would not confirm that officers shot him .

The gunman's motive was not immediately clear, but the mother of a 14-year-old victim said the shooter may have been a jealous boyfriend. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the rampage occurred in the home of the gunman's former sweetheart.

"There is probably nobody in Crandon who is not affected by this," schools Superintendent Richard Peters said, adding that students would be especially affected. "They 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 high 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."

One of the dead was 14-year-old Lindsey Stahl, said her mother, Jenny Stahl, 39.

She said her daughter called her Saturday night and asked whether she could sleep over at a friend's house.

Jenny Stahl gave her permission.

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

A second victim was Bradley Schultz, 20, 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."

Marci Franz, 35, who lives two houses south of the white, two- story duplex where the shootings occurred, said gunshots awakened her.

"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.

The sheriff said he would meet with state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen this morning to discuss the case. Dennee said the state Department of Criminal Investigation will handle the case because the suspect was a deputy and officer.

The Crandon School District called off classes today .

The community is about 225 miles north of Milwaukee .

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