Church service gunman 'angry over sermon'

The man who shot and killed seven people during a church service in the American city of Milwaukee was on the verge of losing his job and upset over a sermon he heard two weeks ago, police have revealed.

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

Before it was over, seven people, including the church’s minister and his teenage son, were killed and four others wounded. Ratzmann, 44, then took his own life, leaving four rounds in his gun, 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.

The church’s minister, Randy L. Gregory, 51, and his son, James Gregory, 16, of Gurnee, Illinois, died, along with Harold Diekmeier, 74, of Delafield; Richard Reeves, 58, of Cudahy; Bart Oliver, 15, of Waukesha; Gloria Critari, 55, of Cudahy; and Gerald A. Miller, 44, of Erin, according to police and published reports.

Marjean Gregory, 52, of Gurnee, was hospitalised in critical condition. Matthew P. Kaulbach, 21, of Pewaukee and Angel M. Varichak, 19, of Helenville were hospitalised in satisfactory condition Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said. A 10-year-old girl police identified as Lindsay was released from the hospital.

About 10 people attended a short vigil Sunday night outside the hotel, holding candles and praying.

They gathered near a snow bank in front of a large makeshift memorial, which included more than 40 bouquets of flowers and 20 stuffed animals laid in front of seven white crosses.

Each cross had a victim’s name and age. In the back, leaning against a tree with some bouquets, was an eighth cross bearing Ratzmann’s name.

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

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 said.

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.

Neighbours 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 neighbour who knew Ratzmann for about a decade. ”It’s not like he ever pushed his beliefs on anyone else.”

But another neighbour 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 as a computer technician.

Ratzmann had been working for an employment agency, assigned to a health care company.

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

Earlier this year, the group’s leader, 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.