Motive in Wisconsin church murder-suicide a mystery

Monday, March 28, 2005   Seven members of a church were killed by Terry Ratzmann, age 44, in Brookfield, Wisconsin March 12. After shooting eleven people, Ratzmann fatally shot himself. Four victims died at the scene; three others died at a nearby hospital.

There is no clear motive but police say that Ratzmann, a long-time member of the Protestant Living Church of God, may have been angered by the teachings of church leader, Roderick Meredith. Apparently, Meredith's teachings differed from those Herbert Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, of which the Living Church of God is a member. Armstrong died in 1986 and Meredith formed a splinter group of the faith which Raztmann joined shortly thereafter.

Church members said that Ratzmann, described as a loner, had been depressed since he was laid off as an engineering technician in 2002. He had been working occasionally at contract jobs since then and his most recent contract as a computer technician was scheduled to end March 25, a week before the shootings.

Mourners created a make-shift memorial outside the Living Church of God building in remembrance of the seven victims.

Sources

• Ryan Nakashima. Why did Terry Ratzmann kill? — Associated Press, March 20, 2005
• Morry Gash. Man Kills 7, Shoots Self at Wis. Hotel — Associated Press, March 18, 2005
• Crocker Stephenson. 8 dead, 4 wounded as New Berlin man opens fire in church meeting at Brookfield hotel — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 12, 2005
• Police: Gunman kills 7 at church meeting — CNN, March 12, 2005