Suicide gunman kills seven at church service

A GUNMAN who opened fire at a church service leaving seven people dead, had been on the verge of losing his job, police revealed last night.

Bachelor Terry Ratzmann walked into the Milwaukee hotel where the church service was being held on Saturday and fired 22 rounds from a 9mm handgun.

Churchgoer 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,” Ms Frazier said.

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, a computer technician, was on the verge of losing his job and was upset over a sermon he heard at the Living Church of God service two weeks ago.

It was unclear what specifically upset him, but the leader of the Living Church of God, had recently prophesied the end of the world was approaching.

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.

The church’s minister, Randy Gregory, 50, and his son, James Gregory, 17, died, along with Harold Diekmeier, 74; Richard Reeves, 58; Bart Oliver, 15; Gloria Critari, 55; and an unnamed 44-year-old man.

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

Ratzmann regularly attended the gatherings at the Sheraton each Saturday as the church group did not have a building of its own.

Ms 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.

Ratzmann had no criminal record, police said. They seized three computers, a .22-calibre rifle and a box of bullets from the two-storey home Ratzmann shared with his mother and sister.

“He was average Joe,” said Shane Colwell, a neighbour. “It’s not like he ever pushed his beliefs on anyone else.”

But another neighbour said Ratzmann was 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 at the service.