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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Answers Sought After Church Group Shooting Answers Sought After Church Group Shooting By RYAN NAKASHIMA and JULIET WILLIAMS The Associated Press Monday, March 14, 2005; 11:43 AM BROOKFIELD, Wis. - It was just another weekend service for churchgoers in this Milwaukee suburb when, without warning, they began to be gunned down by one of their own. Now victims' relatives are struggling to keep their faith and find answers. "This is a totally senseless thing," said Jeff Miller, whose 44-year-old brother, Gerald, died shielding an elderly woman who survived. "He was a great guy. He didn't deserve to die." Terry Ratzmann, a buttoned-down churchgoer known for sharing homegrown vegetables with his neighbors, walked into the room and police said he shot 22 bullets from a 9 mm handgun within a minute. None of those who knew him expected Ratzmann to be violent, though some said he had grappled with depression. Neighbors said he was quiet and devout, that he liked to tinker about his house and garden. He would even release the chipmunks caught in traps he set in his yard. But Saturday, the Sabbath for the Living Church of God, Ratzmann turned on worshippers. When it was over, seven people, including the church's minister and his teenage son, were killed, and four others, including the minister's wife, were wounded. Ratzmann, 44, then shot himself; he sat slumped against the back wall with four rounds left in his gun, police said. "He wasn't a dark guy. He was average Joe," said Shane Colwell, a neighbor who knew Ratzmann for about a decade. "It's not like he ever pushed his beliefs on anyone else." The 44-year-old computer technician lived with his mother and sister in a modest home about two miles from the suburban Milwaukee hotel where police say he opened fire during service. The Charlotte, N.C.-based Living Church of God is a denomination that grew out of a schism in the Worldwide Church of God, formed in 1933, and focuses on "end-time" prophecies. This year, the group's leader, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith, wrote that events prophesied in the Bible are "beginning to occur with increasing frequency." The church has an estimated 6,300 members in 40 countries. Ratzmann himself regularly attended the gatherings at the Sheraton hotel - the Milwaukee-area church group did not have a building of its own. Member Chandra Frazier told "Good Morning America" that he had walked out of a recent sermon "sort of in a huff." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday the Feb. 26 sermon that upset Ratzmann had made the point that people's problems are of their own making. Charles Bryce, the national church's director of administration, said Monday he was told the sermon was about "basic Christian living" but was trying to get more information about what specifically upset Ratzmann. "That's something we just don't know. I don't know whether we'll ever know," Bryce said. Between 50 to 60 people were at the weekly meeting Saturday, and anyone in Ratzmann's path appeared to be a target. He allegedly dropped a magazine and reloaded another. It was so unbelievable, someone shouted out, "This is for real!" Dorothy Hodzinski hit the floor and Gerald Miller, a delivery truck driver, threw his arm over her as they lay together, she told WISN-TV in Milwaukee. "He tried to protect me," she said. "I said, 'Gerry, I think you better start to pray.'" "He said 'Yeah, I think we better,' and he went 'uh' ... Maybe that's when he was shot." Although he left no suicide note and gave no explanation for the killings, investigators said Ratzmann was on the verge of losing his job. Agents who searched Ratzmann's home found three computers containing many encrypted files. They also found a rifle and ammunition. Ratzmann went to church every Saturday, Colwell said, and had lived in the same house his entire life. But another neighbor called Ratzmann a drinker, and church members said he struggled with depression. "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. A former member of the church told the Journal Sentinel Ratzmann was a smart but "angry" figure. "He was always kind of weird and standoffish. He never did anything physically violent, but he could say things very sharply," said David Patrick of Versailles, Ky. "I always saw the potential there for him to explode. I was intimidated and scared of him at times." In addition to Miller and Ratzmann, the dead were Randy L. Gregory, 51, and his son, James Gregory, 16; Harold Diekmeier, 74; Richard Reeves, 58; Bart Oliver, 15; and Gloria Critari, 55. Gregory's wife, Marjean, 52, remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday. Matthew P. Kaulbach, 21, and Angel M. Varichak, 19, were in satisfactory condition. A 10-year-old girl police identified as Lindsay was released from the hospital. A crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday night at a makeshift memorial of flowers, crosses and stuffed animals in a snowbank in front of the hotel. Ratzmann was not known to have threatened anyone and had no criminal record, police said. Waukesha County supervisor Andrew Kallin, who led the vigil, could only offer a prayer. "The Lord works in mysterious ways." © 2005 The Associated Press
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 4.
#1. To: All (#0)
The Rapture Monkeys are a weird bunch alright. Is it just me, or does one seem to go on a rampage every month or so?
They (The Charlotte, N.C.-based Living Church of God) are Seventh Day Adventists. They may believe in "end times prophecy", but they may not be "rapture monkeys".
Weren't the 7th day Advenitst the first Rapture Monkeys? The daddy of them all so to speak? I recall a story when they predicted the end of time somewhere back in the 1870s. Everyone gave away their possessions and stood on a hill waiting for the Rapture. When it didn't come, someone went into a barn and had a vision that the dates were different in heaven than on earth. Since that time, they predict the end of the world every few years or so. When it doesn't come to pass, someone has another vision that sorts it out for them. If there is any truth to this, and I think there is, then they are Rapture Monkeys incarnate.
#5. To: crack monkey (#4)
First chance I get, I'll check into it.
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