Crandon Shooting

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Falco,

I hope your family and community can make it through the bad to live through the good. That is such a horrible thing! I am very glad that as you say the victims "skipped a generation" so your children and peers aren't as directly effected. It's a very sad thing

[Fosco33]

Been to Crandon lots of times - grandparents live in Wabeno. Crandon is quite beautiful - tragedy for such a small place.

[Joemailman]

I was driving south on Highway 45 just miles from Crandon when I heard the news on the radio. Kind of eerie and of course shocking.

Authorities Release More Details About Crandon Shooting
By Dan O'Donnell

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has confirmed that Forest County Sheriff's Deputy Tyler Peterson shot and killed six people at an apartment in the city of Crandon early Sunday morning.

"All evidence, from multiple sources, indicates that the perpetrator of these vicious multiple homicides was Tyler Peterson and only Tyler Peterson," Van Hollen said in a news conference Monday afternoon.

"At approximately 2:47 am...Peterson entered a building at 201 N. Hazeldale, Apartment B in Crandon," he continued. "An argument ensued. Peterson then left the building, retrieved a rifle from his truck, forcibly entered the apartment, and began to open fire. Approximately 30 rounds were fired inside the apartment."

Van Hollen confirmed that six people were killed; Jordanne Murray, 18, who is believed to be Peterson's ex-girlfriend, Crandon High School students Katrina McCorkle, 18, Lianna Thomas, 18, and Lindsey Stahl, 14, as well as recent graduates Bradley Schultz, 20, and Aaron Smith, 20.

"There was a single survivor who was shot and has been interviewed by the Department of Justice," Van Hollen added.

He would not comment on Peterson's relationship to any of his victims, saying only that the investigation is "fluid and ongoing."

After the shootings, Peterson fled, firing at a Crandon Police officer who responded to the scene.

"Peterson had telephone conversations with law enforcement, including Crandon Police Chief John Dennee, confirming he was the shooter," Van Hollen said. "By mid- to late-morning Sunday, Peterson was located at a residence in the town of Argonne."

"Contact was established and maintained with the suspect. Ultimately, however, shots were fired by both law enforcement and Mr. Peterson."

Van Hollen said the cause of Peterson's death is still "a matter of ongoing investigation" and would not say whether authorities shot him or Peterson shot himself.

Insult Apparently Set Peterson Off

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Peterson went to the party at Murray's apartment in the hopes of patching things up, but they instead began fighting. When other people began taunting him by calling him a "worthless pig," he lost control and left to get his rifle.

Mike Kegley told the Journal-Sentinel that Peterson showed up at his family's home a few miles north of Crandon at about 7:30 Sunday morning. Kegley's son was Peterson's friend since childhood.

"He wanted to be his friend and try to help him," Kegley said, adding that Peterson was "very remorseful about what happened."

"We gave him some coffee and fed him. He wasn't running around crazy or anything. He was very, very sorry for what he did."

The Kegleys discreetly called 911 a number of times and talked Peterson into surrendering his rifle. However, he refused to give up the pistol he had tucked into the back of his shirt.

Peterson left the home for about an hour because he wanted to talk to his mother and grandmother. When he returned, he fell asleep in the bed of his pickup truck. When he woke up 45 minutes later, dozens of law enforcement officials surrounded 200-acre property.

Employees of the Kegleys' construction and roofing company who were working outside the home at the time said that at approximately 2:00 pm, Peterson walked into the woods near the house and was shot.

Family Offers Apology

During Monday's news conference, the Peterson family issued a statement apologizing for Tyler's actions and expressing their surprise at them.

"Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and their friends," read Pastor Bill Farr of Grace Chapel Church. "We also feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for the horrible acts Tyler committed. We are struggling to respond, like most of you."

"We are in shock and disbelief that he would do such terrible things. This was not the Tyler we knew and loved," Pastor Farr continued, before concluding the family's statement by again addressing the victims' families and friends. "We are hurting for all your losses as well as ours. May God bless you all. You are in our thoughts and prayers. With great sorrow, the Peterson family."

[CaliforniaCheez]

What are the lessons here????

Some loud mouth teenagers call you a name and you shoot them??

The city trusted the maturity of this individual as a law enforcement officer.

Hey kids your mouth will get you into trouble if you are rude.

If you are over 18 you should not hang out with high school kids.

If you are over 18 you should not date high school kids.

Why are high school kids out at 2-3 am??

Why was he stalking his ex-girlfriend at 2:45 am?

6 people shot with 30 rounds; He must have been very angry or a poor marksman.

I can understand shooting a wife instead of divorce but shooting a girlfriend is not an appropriate way to break up.

Some "blue ribbon panel" will recommend that police applicants pass a psychological exam before hiring and then have periodic reviews.

You should have home defense weapons in case some crazed gunman breaks into your residence.

[Freak Out]

What are the lessons here????

I can understand shooting a wife instead of divorce but shooting a girlfriend is not an appropriate way to break up.

Funny stuff there Calicheese.

[falco]

thanks to everyone for their thoughts. its been a rough time for the community. will be attending a lot of funerals this week.

theres so much to the story you don't get in the sound bytes and from the national news.

[GBRulz]

Attorney general: Crandon gunman shot and killed himself

By Robert Imrie
The Associated Press

CRANDON — An off-duty deputy who killed six people likely shot and killed himself, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said this afternoon.


Tyler Peterson, 20, was shot four times, Van Hollen said.

He was shot once in the left biceps from a distance and then three times in the head from a gun at close range. Two shots went in under Peterson’s chin, while the third fatal shot entered through the right side of head, he said.

Peterson died near a friend’s home in Argonne, where he fled after shooting seven people, including his former girlfriend, at her home in Crandon early Sunday morning. Six died.

The lone survivor was scheduled for surgery this afternoon.

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, of Pickerel. 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

[GBRulz]

thanks to everyone for their thoughts. its been a rough time for the community. will be attending a lot of funerals this week.

theres so much to the story you don't get in the sound bytes and from the national news.

I'm sorry that this happened in your hometown, Falco. So very sad.

[MJZiggy]

That just makes me sick to my stomach.

[Iron Mike]

What are the lessons here????

6 people shot with 30 rounds; He must have been very angry or a poor marksman.

Only one of the victims DIDN'T have a head wound. I'd say he was a pretty good marksman.

[GBRulz]

I was talking to my nephew tonight, who graduated 2 years ago from a HS very close to Crandon, so alot of the kids at the two schools knew each other. I find it somewhat disturbing that the news is portraying the shooter as this normal, everyday guy who everyone liked. Then, I get my nephew's side where many of his friends knew the shooter, said he was a very unstable person, who they felt suffered from mental problems.

It's hard to say, I mean I know HS kids can bend stories, but if they can notice he was unstable, what the heck was he doing as a police officer.

The whole thing is just so sad.

[mmmdk]

I was talking to my nephew tonight, who graduated 2 years ago from a HS very close to Crandon, so alot of the kids at the two schools knew each other. I find it somewhat disturbing that the news is portraying the shooter as this normal, everyday guy who everyone liked. Then, I get my nephew's side where many of his friends knew the shooter, said he was a very unstable person, who they felt suffered from mental problems.

It's hard to say, I mean I know HS kids can bend stories, but if they can notice he was unstable, what the heck was he doing as a police officer.

The whole thing is just so sad.

What a tragedy. Always sad when young people die.

The above mentioned post sounds very plausible; the shooter most certainly had some cognitive flaws maybe even a mental illness - yet the guy was a police officer (?) which may point to the former. I work as a psychiatric nurse at Aarhus University Hospital, mainly with schizophrenic patients, and I meet some scary people at times. This shooter was young and lost - maybe suffering from a undiscovered mental illness like schizophrenia or he had major cognitive problems due to (crappy) upbringing.

Nothing justifies the killings yet I must ask: why was his possibly unstable behavior not discovered?

The families that lost dear ones are the ones we should send our thoughts to and also the community.

[Iron Mike]

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