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Off-Duty Deputy Kills 6, Injures 1

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By ROBERT IMRIE, The Associated Press

Published: October 8, 2007

CRANDON, Wis. - An off-duty sheriff's deputy went on a shooting rampage early Sunday at a home in northern Wisconsin where seven young people had gathered for pizza and movies, killing six and critically injuring the other before authorities fatally shot him, officials said.

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

Three of the victims were students at the small town's high school, and three were recent graduates, a school official said. The gunman may have graduated from the same high school.

The seventh shooting victim was in critical condition at a hospital in nearby Marshfield, said Dennee. A Crandon police officer who fired back was treated for minor injuries and released.

It wasn't immediately clear what Peterson's motive was. The shooting occurred in a white, two-story duplex about a block from downtown Crandon.

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 agreed.

'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.'

The state patrol and the Crandon Fire Department detoured a steady stream of traffic from two blocks of U.S. 8 in the downtown area. Some residents stood in nearby front yards.

Marci Franz, 35, who lives two houses south of the duplex, said gunshots woke 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. 'There's never been a tragedy like this here. There's been individual incidents, but nothing of this magnitude.'

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 Peterson was a deputy and officer.

The Crandon School District canceled classes today.

The community is facing a trying time but is pulling together, Mayor Gary Bradley said.

'We are a strong community. We always have been,' he said. 'This is agonizing, but we will prevail.'

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