Gunman angry at sermon, loss of his job, police say

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – In a minute, a quiet church service at a suburban Milwaukee hotel turned into a 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 9 mm handgun.

One of Ratzmann’s friends begged him to stop, calling him by name and saying, “Stop, stop. Why?” police Capt. Phil Horter said.

Before it was over, seven people, including the church’s minister and his teenage son, were killed and four others were injured. 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, Ratzmann was on the verge of losing his job and was upset over a sermon he had heard two weeks ago, investigators said.

It was unclear what specifically had upset him, but Ratzmann was a member of the Living Church of God, a denomination whose leader recently had 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, Ill., were killed, along with Harold Diekmeier, 74, of Delafield, Wis.; Richard Reeves, 58, of Cudahy, Wis.; Bart Oliver, 15, of Waukesha, Wis.; Gloria Critari, 55, of Cudahy; and Gerald A. Miller, 44, of Erin, Wis., according to police and published reports.

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

The church was 20 or 30 minutes into the service when the shots rang out.

Ratzmann regularly attended the gatherings at the Sheraton Hotel each Saturday – the church group did not have a building of its own. But churchgoer Chandra Frazier said Ratzmann had walked out of a recent sermon “sort of in a huff.”

He was not known to have threatened anyone and had no criminal record, police said.