Twenty year old cop kills six

[DennisTheMenace]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/08/wis...ef=mpstoryview

Deputy fired 30 shots from rifle in killing 6, officials say
Story Highlights
NEW: Gunman went to party to make up with ex-girlfriend, friend tells newspaper

Off-duty deputy used police-style AR-15 rifle to kill six, officials say

One person also injured when deputy opens fire at party, officials say

Mother of 14-year-old victim: "I don't want to believe it"

CRANDON, Wisconsin (CNN) -- An off-duty sheriff's deputy used a police-style AR-15 rifle to kill six people at an early morning party in a small Wisconsin town, officials said Monday.

Twenty-year-old Tyler Peterson had gone to the party early Sunday to make amends with his ex-girlfriend, a friend of Peterson's told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Peterson lost control after people called him a "worthless pig," Mike Kegley told the paper.

Peterson left and got a police-style AR-15 rifle from his truck, forced his way back into the apartment and fired about 30 rounds at about 2:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. ET). Six people were killed; one person survived and is hospitalized, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said at a Monday news conference.

Peterson was killed in a shootout with law officers Sunday afternoon after negotiations for his surrender failed, officials said. The town's mayor said Tyler was killed by a SWAT team sniper.

The dead and wounded were all students or graduates of Crandon High School, and Peterson was a graduate of the school, which has a little more than 300 students.

Witnesses said the victims ranged in age from 14 to 20, and one was apparently Peterson's former girlfriend.

Peterson's family, in a statement read by Bill Farr, a pastor, expressed condolences to the victim's relatives and said they could not find any reason for the killings.

"We are grieving for your losses. We are very sorry for what has happened. This huge tragedy has deeply affected everyone, including us. We also feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for the horrible acts Tyler committed. This is not the Tyler we knew and loved," the statement read.

Jenny Stahl said her daughter, Lindsey, was the youngest victim. Watch the victim's mom describe her grief »

"I don't want to believe it. I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up," she said. "She's only 14 -- she'll be 15 next month; she's just starting to live. And the sad thing is who killed her -- a cop. Cops are supposed to always protect you, I thought, and it's one who took my daughter and how many other people's lives."

It was the high school's homecoming weekend.

Friends of the victims said Peterson also worked part time as a Crandon police officer.

Residents near the scene of the shooting told the Associated Press it was hard to accept that a police officer was the shooter.

"The first statement we said to each other was, 'How did he get through the system?' " David Franz told the AP. "How do they know somebody's background, especially that young? It is disturbing, to say the least."

The town's schools were closed Monday, with grief counselors available to students, said Superintendent Richard Peters.

"This was the kind of scenario where every small town in the USA says, 'This could never happen here,' " Peters said.

Crandon, a town of about 2,000 people, is 220 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley said the town will work together to get over the tragedy.

"There's a lot of people weeping and gnashing their teeth and the emotions are very raw right now," Bradley said. "But we'll rebuild brick by brick."

Forest County Sheriff Keith Van Cleve called the situation "very difficult" for his deputies and the community.

Karly Johnson, 16, told the AP she knew the shooter.

"He was nice. He was an average guy -- normal. You wouldn't think he could do that," Johnson said, adding that Peterson had helped her in a class and had graduated with her brother, according to the AP.

The state attorney general's office will investigate the case, Van Cleve said.

Kevin St. John, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, said the agency's criminal investigation unit routinely investigates cases of a "statewide or significant nature."

CNN's Susan Roesgen and Katherine Wojtecki contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report

This is a sad story, which makes me wonder why our society trusts a kid to have the temperment and responsibility to be a Police Officer before he is old enough to drink. How can we decide a person with a life out of H.S. of just two years can be given the trust and authority of such a possition in the community? Frankly this is why we really need higher pay for public servents, so that folks with real life experance to temper their emotions can afford to take these jobs with out going three steps back in the financial ladder. I know this can't be blaimed just on the LEO profession, so George don't say I am cop bashing, but to take a kid right out of H.S. or very shortly removed, and put him in the academy where you are taught not to take gruff from anyone, and give him 24/access to weapons is not that smart of a move on the part of society. I am very glad that this is such a rare, almost non-existant, occurance, but I am also a little surprised it does not happen more, all things considered.

[BFDNJFF]

So because one unstable person screws up we should blame all 20 somethings?
You don't want them to be cops at 20 but we can send them to wars at 17 with a parents approval?

[DennisTheMenace]

So because one unstable person screws up we should blame all 20 somethings?
You don't want them to be cops at 20 but we can send them to wars at 17 with a parents approval?

A 17 year old at war is under constant supervision and turns in his firearm upon return from the war zone. I know of no 20 year olds who have the true maturity of a 25 year old, although I do know a few 25 year olds with the maturity of a 20 year old. Point is we do not have enough information on any 20 year old to make a good judgement on their ability to handle the responsibility that goes with being an LEO. An LEO is out on the street often with minimum supervision, a Marine or soldier is directly over seen by a superior who is watched over by another superior. So yes, the exception should force us to re-look at our rules.

[SeaFoam]

I find that strange that they allow people to become police officers and carry weapons before the age of 21... Of course, if they are a nut job and aren't caught in the interview process no age is going to change that.

[MarcusKspn]

I give this thread 1 more page before it turns from a "Young Cops Should Not Have Guns Thread" to a "See!!!! Thats Why Explorers Should Not Be Firefighters Thread".


Then I'm gonna give it 6 pages before the WebTeam locks it down, and 8 people get banned.


*ducks for cover*

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

Does anyone know what the WI hiring practices are?

[FlyingKiwi]

George.

Are you now considered "Old Enough" to start a career as a LEO? Or should you wait another few years?

I find that strange that they allow people to become police officers and carry weapons before the age of 21

By 21 I had been driving a deadly weapon for 5 years legally, and had completed 1 /12 years of military service.

Get over yourselves, he was 1 person who spun out.

A 17 year old at war is under constant supervision

Yeah, right.

[MarcusKspn]

A 17 year old at war is under constant supervision and turns in his firearm upon return from the war zone.

It really helps when you have a group of 17 year olds at war, that are supervised by the lone 18 or 19 year old.

[DennisTheMenace]

It really helps when you have a group of 17 year olds at war, that are supervised by the lone 18 or 19 year old.

Show me that unit where the SSgt and the Lt. is only 18 or 19... And like I said, we don't let the soldier/Marine take the weapons home either. I know of atleast one jurisdiction that instituted the degree requirement, not to make their officers smarter/better educated, but to get around a ruling that they could not put a minimum age over 18 years old. If society has deemed a kid under 21 too immature to drink, how can they be deemed mature enough to hold such an awesome responsibility within society?

[MarcusKspn]

Irrelevant post

[FFLutz]

Well I'm 20 but I'm sure that makes me very immature according to Dennis but I have handled firearms in the past and I believe that I am mature enough to have good gun safety and I would never use a weapon on another person. If I was an LEO or in the military I would of course change that opinion but I, personally would never even point an unloaded weapon at another living thing. Just because this guy was off his rocker doesn't mean that everyone under 21 or 25 or whatever age you deem appropriate shouldn't be allowed to become an LEO. I wonder what you would have said about this had the guy been in his 30's or 40's. Age had nothing to do with it. He took multiple lives, he's old enough at 20 to know what he was doing was wrong.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

George.

Are you now considered "Old Enough" to start a career as a LEO? Or should you wait another few years?



By 21 I had been driving a deadly weapon for 5 years legally, and had completed 1 /12 years of military service.

Get over yourselves, he was 1 person who spun out.



Yeah, right.

I have one big problem in starting my career over again at 48. I simply don't care anymore.

[MalahatTwo7]

I'll make just one mild statement and then grab my helmet and duck for cover.

That same said 17 or 18 yr old soldier who has a SSgt or Lt looking over his shoulder in time of war only has those "4 Eyes" looking at him for as long as they are both living. We all know of stories in which both the Lt and the Sgts got "whacked" and it was up to the jr guys to get themselves out of whatever ****e they were in. I contend that in time of war all bets are off on who is how mature. A soldier either grows up real quick or .... well we all know the alternative.

As for the content of the original post, all I can ask is how good was his psychological background checks?

Ok. Running for cover now.

[FlyingKiwi]

Rick.

If you want a real beasting try this.

I wonder if he had been a Police Explorer?

[MalahatTwo7]

Rick.

If you want a real beasting try this.

I wonder if he had been a Police Explorer?

Now that is a direction even I would not have taken this dicussion.

[DennisTheMenace]

As for the content of the original post, all I can ask is how good was his psychological background checks?

Apparently not very good, but than again besides a poly they did not have much of a history on the guy to go on. If the guy was 25, 30, 40 I would say that the department screwed up in the background, or in supervision of the guy. But with such a short time that this guy had been able to live out from under his parents' roof, there is just not enough time to make a reasonable assumption on the guy either way.

[MalahatTwo7]

But with such a short time that this guy had been able to live out from under his parents' roof, there is just not enough time to make a reasonable assumption on the guy either way.

And I think this is the $64.00 statement to this story. A very unfortunate turn of events for all concerned in any case, and not one that I would wish on any parent/brother/sister etc.

[DonSmithnotTMD]

Actually, this was the first question I had. Yesterday, I heard he was on the SRT. It seems like there is a lot to be asked about local standards.

BTW, those Soldiers go through a helluva lot more training than anyone in law enforcement. The ones designated to do most of the killing have to endure a lot of additional pressure and evaluation. Their leaders could be a syoung as 20, but they've usually gone through even more.

[BFDNJFF]

Actually, this was the first question I had. Yesterday, I heard he was on the SRT. It seems like there is a lot to be asked about local standards.

BTW, those Soldiers go through a helluva lot more training than anyone in law enforcement. The ones designated to do most of the killing have to endure a lot of additional pressure and evaluation. Their leaders could be a syoung as 20, but they've usually gone through even more.

hmmm I could of swore Army boot is only 2 months long and Marines is only 3. I believe Infantry training was only a month or so long also..................

Most Police Academy's are 6 months long.

[ndvfdff33]

It really helps when you have a group of 17 year olds at war, that are supervised by the lone 18 or 19 year old.

Only spot you would see something like this is in the reserves.