Posted on 10/07/2007 10:23:40 AM PDT by janetjanet998
Edited on 10/07/2007 10:34:41 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary Saturday night when Tyler Peterson met up with a bunch of friends in a parking lot behind a Crandon bank.
They talked about hunting, what to do later that night. Typical stuff. That was it. It was 8:30 p.m.
But before the sun would rise, Peterson, a 20-year-old, off-duty Forest County sheriff's deputy and part-time City of Crandon police officer, would be suspected of storming into his ex-girlfriend's house and killing her and five other young people at a party, including two of his best childhood buddies.
Another teen was critically wounded.
Peterson would later end up dead, shot by the Crandon SWAT team.
"He must have just snapped," said a close friend who had known Peterson since they were in kindergarten and talked to him in the parking lot Saturday night. "He seemed fine (at 8:30 p.m.)."
Authorities in Crandon, about 180 miles north of Milwaukee, did not release details of the killings or the names of the victims Sunday, but the Journal Sentinel learned from interviews with families and friends that the following were killed:
• Jordanne Murray, 18, Peterson's former longtime sweetheart, who graduated from Crandon High School in 2006.
• Katrina McCorkle, an 18-year-old senior at Crandon High.
• Leanna Thomas, also an 18-year-old senior at Crandon.
• Bradley Schultz, 20, a 2005 graduate of Crandon and a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee majoring in criminal justice.
• Aaron Smith, called "Chunk" by his friends, also a 2005 graduate of Crandon. His age was not available.
• Lindsey Stahl, 14, a freshman at Crandon.
Charlie Nietzel, 19, of the neighboring town of Pickerel was wounded. He was in critical condition late Sunday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield.
Because a local law enforcement officer was involved, the investigation is being handled by the state Department of Criminal Investigation. Officials would not disclose any information Sunday other than to say authorities responded to a report of shots fired at 2:47 a.m., and that six people and the killer were dead.
Three-term Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley expressed anger and frustration at the state's handling of the case, complaining about a lack of information for officials and families and the length of time being taken in removing the bodies from the home.
"Man, they paralyzed this town," he said.
Bradley confirmed that Peterson was shot and killed by the Crandon SWAT team Sunday afternoon, hours after the early morning shootings.
Although few in Crandon knew exactly what happened in Murray's home, in a town where the population barely pushes 2,000, seemingly everyone knew the victims or the shooter.
Fay Statezny has known the Petersons and the families of several of the other victims for 20 years or more. Statezny said Tyler Peterson was "a normal kid" who liked to hunt and fish and loved the outdoors.
He had grown up with Smith and Schultz, and they were all very close friends.
"We would all go mud-running and ice fishing," said Peterson's longtime friend from kindergarten, who didn't want his name published because of the sensitivity of the situation.
He said Peterson and Murray had been together for a long time and broke up earlier this year. He debunked rumors that Murray was dating someone else, sparking a jealous rage in Peterson.
Paul Pitts, a 17-year-old senior, said Peterson was the type of guy who was picked on by students when he was in high school.
Other friends and neighbors said Peterson, who was officially deputized in February, had recently completed special-forces-type training.
It made sense to Jenny Stahl that her 14-year-old daughter, Lindsey, should stay the night at Murray's house. After all, it was homecoming weekend; lots of kids were sleeping at friends' homes. It cut down on the late-night driving. It would be safer that way, they thought.
Lindsey Stahl and Murray both worked at an ice cream and hamburger stand called Eats and Treats in Crandon. They stopped at Stahl's home around 9 p.m. to pick up a change of clothes.
At 8 a.m. Sunday, Jenny Stahl got a knock on her door. Her neighbor told her of the slayings and took her to Praise Chapel Community Church, where she waited with the families of the other victims for word about their loved ones. Stahl hoped for the best.
"I thought maybe she wasn't there, maybe she got out," Stahl said in an interview in her driveway, where she stood with friends and neighbors hugging and drinking Pepsi.
She waited eight hours. At 4 p.m., authorities announced the names of the dead. Lindsey was on the list.
The 14-year-old's half brother, Ryan Coulter, 12, said his sister was smart and interested in issues ranging from global warming to animal rights.
"She probably would have changed the world, you know," he said.
Jenny Stahl grew up in Kenosha and moved her family to Crandon because she thought the small community would be a safer place for her children to grow up.
Elsie Murray, Jordanne's grandmother, said the family was not able Sunday to talk about what happened.
Friends said Jordanne lived in the lower level of the house and her father, Paul Murray, lived in the upper level.
Kelly Flanery, 15, a sophomore at Crandon High, knew all of the victims and said that in addition to working at the ice cream shop, Jordanne Murray worked at Subway in Crandon.
She "was like the nicest person. She was friends with everyone," said Flanery. "I didn't believe it at first. It didn't like sink in, it really hasn't."
Schultz grew up in Crandon but moved to Cudahy two years ago to attend UW-Milwaukee, where he was a junior, said his uncle Steve Bocek, who lives in Oak Creek. Schultz worked part-time at a Racine electrical supply company to pay for school.
The middle of three boys, Schultz often drove to Crandon on weekends to visit his mother, who is blind with retinitis pigmentosa, and younger brother.
"He was just always a nice kid, always polite. He just wanted to come down here to go to school so he could further his education," said Bocek, who last saw his nephew three weeks ago when Schultz visited to swim in Bocek's backyard pool.
Schultz, who had a girlfriend in the Milwaukee area, had played basketball and baseball at Crandon High School.
"He was such a good kid; who would ever expect this?" his uncle said.
McCorkle and Jordanne Murray had been "friends forever," said a former boyfriend of McCorkle's. McCorkle loved to play softball and was thinking about where to attend college, he said. And she was very tight with her family.
"Her family meant everything to her," he said.
Friends said Smith, or "Chunk," as friends called him, was into football and loved to fish.
"He was one of them guys that everybody gets along with," said a childhood friend who also grew up with Peterson and Schultz.
Smith's sister said her family was grieving and couldn't talk.
Thomas' grandfather, Roy Thomas, said his granddaughter has a twin sister, Lindsay. "She was a sweet little girl," he said tearfully before hanging up the phone.
As streets were barricaded near the shooting scene, the soul of Crandon seemed to shake with grief.
"This is affecting everybody in this small community," said Tom Vollmar, a Forest County supervisor who has lived in Crandon for 57 years. "There's no family that hasn't been touched in one way or another."
Schools Superintendent Richard Peters said the victims and Peterson were all "people who we have known or patted on the back or encouraged at one point in time."
Crandon High School's crisis team gathered twice Sunday. Counselors fanned out to area churches to help families and friends of the victims who had gathered there.
School is canceled today.
Praise Chapel Community Church Pastor Bill Farr was called by the Forest County Sheriff's Department at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and asked to open the church for victims' families and other members of the community. About 200 people showed up during the day. He said it took so long for authorities to release the names because state investigators were handling the case.
More than a dozen hours later, Farr was still at the church.
"This is going to take a long time for a community like this to get over," said Farr, who has lived in Crandon for many years.
Standing next to his pickup truck in the church parking lot Sunday night, Farr began to cry as he held hands and prayed with three other church members.
"We just really need everyone's prayers right now," he said.
Wanna bet whose AR15 he used?
More background here as to where he went in the middle.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=672136
Yep. Gotta give those guns to the bullies:’)
I know. However- he was old enough to own a gun in Wisconsin- regardless of his status as an LEO, or what kind of firearm he used.
My point is- his being a cop isn’t what caused him to go on a killing spree.
I guess I just see it differently. To me- this is a tragedy that no amount of gun-control or better screening could have prevented.
Life is not fair, nor is it just. Awful things happen, and no amount of legislation will ever stop them.
This should never HAVE happened, but it did, just as other horrible things have, and will. It’s part of life.
YIKES !!!......looks like when you call 911 in WI, & report (the presence) an armed murderer.....you'll have a COUPLE HOURS to leave for a visit, eat, & take a nap before there's ANY response to you 911 call.
I had to read that piece 2-3 times before I really grasped what happened. It says numerous 911 calls were made- and yet...NO POLICE showed up for hours.
Just unbelievable. There must be more to it than this??
F U
No wonder "officials" not ready to release any info....a TWO HOUR response time to this 911 call, will be very hard to explain (*if* it ever is).
I wonder the same thing. Jealousy of the girlfriend breaking things off with the shooter is part of the story. However, it makes you wonder what the heck is driving people to this now. 30 years of glorified violence on T.V.? I and other business leaders often speak of the morality of this nation evaporating right before our eyes.
I know. There simply must be more to this than the story reveals- it’s unthinkable otherwise.
According th the linked article in post #444, it was his work issued assault rifle he used.
Yep, I had to read it twice also, wonder if the locals have heard this same info ??
NorthwoodsGirl.....check the link in post 444, anything from the 'grapevine' confirming this ??
The AR15 was his duty rifle. He also carried a handgun.
I beleive the police were in the process of surrounding the property, if you read the whole article, that’s what it indicated to me.
Yes, but...the first 911 call was placed at 7:30 AM. Peterson was shot somehwere around 2 in the afternoon..in between he ate, napped and drove home to see his family and then returned to his friend’s house.
~snip~
“Peterson showed up at Kegley’s home a few miles north of Crandon at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday and told his wife and their son - Peterson’s friend since childhood - what happened.
The family quietly called 911.
The Kegleys coaxed Peterson, a Forest County sheriff’s deputy and part-time Crandon police officer, into handing over his work-issued assault rifle - the weapon he said he had used in the slayings - and tried to calmly talk him into turning himself in.
Peterson said he wanted to talk to his mom and his grandmother and left the house, promising to return.
About an hour later Peterson came back. The Kegleys again called 911.
“We gave him some coffee and fed him,” Kegley said. “He wasn’t running around crazy or anything. He was very, very sorry for what he did.”
Peterson promised the Kegleys they were not in any danger but he refused to give up his pistol that he had tucked in the back of his shirt, Kegley said.
After about another hour or so, Kegley said he left his house to find out where the police were. His wife followed him a short time later. Their son refused to leave.
“He wanted to be his friend and try to help,” Kegley said.
Kegley owns a construction and roofing company based on his property. Several of his workers were there and also called 911 “many, many” times, he said.
After a while, Peterson climbed in the back of his pick-up truck and went to sleep. Workers again called 911. Still no law enforcement approached.
Kegley said his workers estimated Peterson slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up. By then dozens and dozens of officers, deputies and other law enforcement officials surrounded about 200 acres around the site and infiltrated the woods.
Somewhere around 2 p.m. Peterson walked off toward the woods. He got about 50 yards from the house and was shot, Kegley’s workers who witnessed the happenings, told him.
~snip~
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=672136
After the *first* 911 call @ 7:30 AM, This kid had time to visit with his friends, announce his next visits to his family, & then return to this friends house "about an hour later".
How long should the "process of surrounding property" take ??
Then after the second 9-11 call, "about an hour later", the 9-11 caller went looking for the cops.
Nope I had no info about that before I read that link. It explains why no one was talking about anything though. There was a MAJOR screw up and now someone is going to be in very very big trouble. This is just ridiculous. I have had to call 911 only two times and they were there instantly almost so I have no idea what happened here but something major did. I will update as soon as I hear anything else. No school today or tomorrow. Most buisnesses are shut down and there are still news people EVERYWHERE.
Thanks for the update from a local perspective.
No school today or tomorrow. Most businesses are shut down
Best, I'm sure, as I know this has affected all in your small community.
still news people EVERYWHERE.
a major pain I know, hopefully some will ask the right questions as to there being a MAJOR screw up.
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