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Terry Ratzmann shot and killed 7 people in church. Please pray for the families.

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Posted by: JG

Undated photo released by police of Terry W. Ratzmann of New Berlin, Wis.
Wisconsin shooter was upset over sermon, job
'Average Joe' kills 7 people and himself during an evangelical church service
By JULIET WILLIAMS and RYAN NAKASHIMA

BROOKFIELD, Wis. — In a minute, a quiet church service at a suburban Milwaukee hotel turned into bloodbath.

Terry Ratzmann, a buttoned-down churchgoer known for sharing his homegrown vegetables with his neighbors, walked into the room and fired 22 rounds from a 9mm handgun.

One of Ratzmann's friends begged him to stop, calling him by name and saying "Stop, stop, why?", Police Capt. Phil Horter said. Chandra Frazier dove under a chair. The man sitting in it died.

"I just remember crawling on the carpet and just praying, screaming out and praying," Frazier told "Good Morning America" today.

Before it was over, seven people, including the church's minister and his teenage son, were killed and four others wounded. Ratzmann then took his own life, police said.

Although he left no suicide note and gave no explanation for the killings, investigators said Ratzmann was on the verge of losing his job and was upset over a sermon he heard two weeks ago.

It was unclear what specifically upset him, but Ratzmann was a member of the Living Church of God, a denomination whose leader recently prophesied that end times are near.

Fifty to 60 people were at Saturday's weekly meeting, and anyone in Ratzmann's path appeared to be a target. He even dropped a magazine and reloaded another.

Greg Zamis of Aurora, Ill., puts up crosses, Sunday, for the seven victims of a shooting outside the Sheraton hotel in Brookfield, Wis.
The church's minister, Randy L. Gregory, 50,
and his son, James Gregory, 17, of Gurnee, Ill., died,
along with Harold Diekmeier, 74, of Delafield;
Richard Reeves, 58, of Cudahy;
Bart Oliver, 15, of Waukesha;
Gloria Critari, 55, of Cudahy;
and a 44-year-old man from Hartford, according to published reports.

Marjean Gregory, 52, was hospitalized in critical condition, a family friend said, and a 20-year-old woman, a 20-year-old man and the 10-year-old girl also were hospitalized.

The church group was 20 or 30 minutes into Saturday's service when the shots rang out.

Ratzmann regularly attended the gatherings at the Sheraton each Saturday — the church group did not have a building of its own. But Frazier said Ratzmann walked out of a recent sermon "sort of in a huff."

"Something that the minister said he was upset about. I'm not quite sure what exactly," she said.

During the shooting rampage, Ratzmann told the friend who approached him that he was upset, said Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher, although he was unsure over what.

He was not known to have threatened anyone and had no criminal record, police said. They seized three computers, a .22-caliber rifle and a box of bullets from the modest two-story home Ratzmann shared with his mother and adult sister.

Neighbors said Ratzmann built his own greenhouse, kept a well-tended garden and even used humane traps to free squirrels that got in the yard.

"He wasn't a dark guy. He was average Joe," said Shane Colwell, a neighbor who knew Ratzmann for about a decade. "It's not like he ever pushed his beliefs on anyone else."

But another neighbor called Ratzmann a drinker, and church members said he struggled with depression for years.

"Terry suffered from depression, on and off. When he was really depressed he didn't talk to people. Sometimes it was worse than others," said Kathleen Wollin, 66, who was sitting at the front of the room during Saturday's service.

The district attorney said Ratzmann was on the verge of losing his job with a Waukesha County firm, but he would not name it or say what it did. Colwell said Ratzmann told him he was a computer technician.

The neighbor said Ratzmann was so devout about attending church that he skipped Colwell's wedding because it was on a Saturday.

The Living Church of God, based in Charlotte, N.C., places a strong emphasis on using world events to prove the end of the world is near.

Earlier this year, the group's leader, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith, wrote that events prophesied in the Bible are "beginning to occur with increasing frequency."

"We are not talking about decades in the future. We are talking about Bible prophesies that will intensify within the next five to 15 years of your life," he wrote in the church's magazine, Tomorrow's World.

The church branch that met in Brookfield was started by Randy Gregory, who moved his family from Texas to Gurnee, Ill., five years ago, said next-door neighbor Toni D'Amore, 47. Gregory and his 17-year-old son, James, were among the victims.

"Their children were probably, I'd have to say, were probably some of the nicest and most respectable young men I've ever met," she said.

She said James excelled in school. "He just had potential coming out of every pore of his body. You know, the world's lost something there."

Don Free said his niece, Angel Varichak, was one of the wounded, but she was expected to survive.

"I wanted to know where God was when this happened," Free told the Chicago Sun-Times. "He was supposed to be everywhere. He could have at least been there."


Posted by: JG

Peter Leiby, Director of Operations at the Brookfield Sheraton Hotel, brings flowers left at the hotel's main desk from anonymous donors in the community to a makeshift memorial, March 13, 2005. A New Berlin man, Terry Ratzmann, opened fire with a 9mm pistol killing eight persons, including himself, and wounding four others, police said in Brookfield, Wisconsin March 12, 2005. The victims were attending a Church of the Living God service at the hotel when the shooting occurred. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson



Posted by: JG

A young girl looks out a car window after leaving the Sheraton Hotel hours after a New Berlin man, Terry Ratzmann, opened fire with a 9mm pistol killing eight persons, including himself, and wounding four others, police said in Brookfield, Wisconsin, March 12, 2005. The victims were attending a Church of the Living God service when the shootings occurred. Picture taken March 12, 2005. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson



Posted by: JG

A makeshift memorial of flowers and crosses is seen outside a Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield, Wisconsin March 13, 2005. Terry Ratzmann fired a handgun into a crowded church service at the Wisconsin hotel, killing seven people including the pastor and his son before taking his own life. The 44-year-old gunman was a congregant who may have been angry about a sermon, police said on Sunday. Police said Ratzmann attended the church, which has met regularly at the Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield 10 miles (16 km) west of Milwaukee for the past several years.



Posted by: akabezalel

I know where God was that morning. He was standing waiting for someone to interceed for this little church. Holding out His Arms to Welcome those who died Home. Delaying others so they do not sit in their accustomed chairs. Comforting those watching it happen. Protecting some of them with His own shield. Crying when Terry took his own life and slipped into hell. Father, Forgive Terry! Forgive US for not being available to hear Your voice as You called out the need for intersessors. Forgive Don Free for his anger towards You in this tragedy. Have Mercy on us all Father! and turn this tragedy into Your Victory! Avenge the deaths and injuries by bringing people to Jesus because of ths testimonies of Your Love, Mercy, Power and Might! In the Name of Jesus! AMEN!


Posted by: Christian Commando

Oh Lord- another mess. Jesus we ask you would please help the families of those who were killed at this Church service. Give them a peace in thier hearts about what happened, the loss of loved ones and a forgiveness for the man who did the shooting. It's hard for people to know what to think or how to feel in times like this. Pour over them your soothing Love that they might know you are there with them. Help to remove any anger or bitterness over this. Take away any confusion that might bring fear or anger. Sooth the hurt these families feel. Please Lord, supply all needs each family will require during this ordeal. In Jesus Name- Amen!


Posted by: Christian Commando

Lord- we pray continually for the family's who lost loved ones in this tragedy that you continue to comfort them and help them heal and find peace in this aftermath. We pray for a total repentance and turn around in this man who satan used to do it and be a prize fighter against satan now. In Jesus Name- Amen!!