---

Associated Press, via AZCentral.com, USA
Mar. 18, 2005
www.azcentral.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 10627 • Posted: Saturday March 19, 2005  

---

MILWAUKEE – A man who fatally shot seven fellow church members and then killed himself had a history of depression and disagreed with his pastor, his mother told a medical examiner.

Shirley Ratzmann said her 44-year-old son, Terry Ratzmann, had a history of depression “relating to job problems for the last couple of years,” but had not seen a doctor about it, a medical examiner’s report released Thursday shows.

Shirley Ratzmann also said the Living Church of God congregation her son attended had split from another church a few years ago.

“She stated that her son did not agree with the new pastor’s point of view, but ‘didn’t harp on it,’ ” the report said.

Police said they think Ratzmann may have targeted his pastor’s family and shot others at random Saturday when he walked into the service at the Brookfield Sheraton hotel and fired 22 shots from a handgun.

Pastor Randy Gregory, 51, of Gurnee, Ill., and his son, James Gregory, 16, were killed. The pastor’s wife, Marjean Gregory, 52, was wounded and remained hospitalized as funeral services were held for her husband and son Thursday.

District Attorney Paul Bucher said investigators still have “no logical reason” for who was gunned down.

“All we know is it had to do something with the church. We don’t know if it was a philosophical issue, a personnel issue, even a monetary issue,” Bucher said.

Some friends and fellow churchgoers have said Terry Ratzmann suffered from depression for decades.

Leaders of the church, an offshoot of the former Worldwide Church of God, did not know of any disputes between Ratzmann and Gregory or any other members, said John Ogwyn, a church minister from Texas who traveled to Milwaukee on Thursday for the funerals.

He said the church does not discourage medical treatment for mental health problems, as some have said.

Police have ruled out a pending job loss as a motive in the killing, and for now they are discounting events during a Feb. 26 church service. Ratzmann walked out of that service before he was scheduled to give the closing prayer, but police have said they found nothing to show the service was a turning point in Ratzmann’s life.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Living Church of God Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Living Church of God Read Another Article Previous entry: ‘Mein Kampf’ becomes best-seller in Turkey Next entry: Funerals bring grace, peace RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Living Church of God Most Popular Today I know the dark side of Scientology…I almost lost my friend when she became obsessed with it ‘Cult’ program in NYC schools Indictment against rabbi Elior Chen: Shook, beat, fed children feces Church of Scientology told to drop Churchill images

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.