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.
Does it come with a lake?
Why yes it does! This must be your lucky day!
I am a Catholic conservative, and have never believed anything as silly as that!
Glory be! Will you take a check?
As this incident shows, if you have good snipers you don't NEED good luck!
Well, they don't have authority, not even legislative authority in Louisiana, to confiscate everyone's firearms either. But that didn't stop them from doing it in New Orleans.
Usually, but it varies by jurisdiction. Gun laws, other than Lautenberg, almost always have exceptions for police and military. Military only when actually performing their duties, police all the time.
Reportedly about a year younger than him. I don't think that makes him a pervert. Makes him a jealous hot head, and dead.
I think the report is that he was a part time town cop and a full time sheriffs deputy. Both the police chief and the sheriff need to be question as to why they hired this hot head.
I would imagine that was especially true the night of Homecoming, the Prom, and graduation. Even stick in the mud El Gato (Then, not now) was up until well after dawn on graduation. Had breakfast at the same friend's house where we had the "welcome the exchange students" party at the beginning of the school year. That's where I met the Swedish exchange student, and asked her to the state fair. We had a good time, but even though she wasn't quite the Swedish Bikini Team type, that you DoM might imagine, she was nice and she was very smart, but somehow just wasn't my type. (My wife is German-Danish-Italian, and more blonde than the Swede, and just as smart too, at least she has a higher measured IQ than I do, and scored just bit higher on her GREs than I did.)
Not sure who posted about how many shots, but my boss was the one who called the cops intially. There were more than 20 shots so his aim is not that good and/or he was not too close or just shooting randomly. She said she heard gunshots and screaming, a pause then more gunshots then the squealing tires as he sped away, and then nothing but silence. :(
I heard the last set of shots and the tires as he sped away. Cant imagine how my boss is going to be the next few weeks, it must have been horrific to listen to everyone screaming.
Usually the cops just shoot innocent dogs. Now they’re shooting kids.
While it's true that WI is a NO CCW state, one of only two, it's far from a No guns state. If there is an armed madman on the loose, a handgun is hardly the optimal weapon, but the lack of CCW law doesn't prevent anyone from having one in their home, place of business, etc. For hunkering down, a shotgun would probably be best. Or perhaps an intermediate power semi-automatic carbine, or just a lever action 30-30. (Plenty of those in the Big Woods I'd imagine). If you really wanted to be sure to keep the shooter away from you and yours, a full power rifle, semi-auto, slide or bolt action, with a scope, would seem to be best. I'd opt for the shotgun *and* the carbine.. although I've got the choice of "any of the above", including the handgun (.45 ACP of course) , 7.62x39 Carbine, M1 Carbine (my favorite), and 7.62 NATO scoped semi auto. (and .22 rifle and pistol). Choice is good!
Yes, Prayers.
Sounds more like "hormones"..."jealousy"... "stupidity" to me.
It'll take major contortions for them to blame it on the gun, since the gun was wielded by a police officer. But never fear, they'll manage somehow.
They come around to take a report, and clean up the mess. So yes we need them, but we can't expect them to actually *prevent* any of those events. It's not even their job really, according to the courts (and common sense). Other than indirectly that is, and indirectly hasn't been working real well of late.
The buggar's dead. The trial will not be lengthy.
In fact there won't be a trial. Just a corner's inquest, for the killer, and his victims.
From the NRA/ILA page for WI.
No state permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun, or handgun.
It is unlawful for a person under the age of 18 to possess a firearm unless that person is accompanied by a parent or guardian and is target shooting or participating in a firearms training course. Young hunters between the ages of 12 and 16 may possess firearms under the supervision of a parent or guardian while in the field and/or while enrolled in hunter safety classes.
Purchase would covered by Federal Law. Essentially 18 for long guns, 21 for handguns.
But you are correct, these laws almost always have exceptions for police and military. Military are usually excepted only when possessing or carrying firearms in conjunction with their official duties. Police are generally excepted all the time.
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