20-year-old cop killed 6 people because he was rebuffed by girlfriend and called "worthless pig"

[kurth]

Wis. deputy flew into rage after rebuff
By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer

CRANDON, Wis. - A young sheriff's deputy who opened fire on a pizza party and killed six people reportedly flew into a rage when he was rebuffed by his old girlfriend, and others at the gathering called him a "worthless pig."

A longtime friend told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that 20-year-old Tyler Peterson came to his door in the hours after the rampage and calmly explained what he had done. "He wasn't running around crazy or anything. He was very, very sorry for what he did," Mike Kegley told the newspaper, adding that he gave Peterson coffee and food and later called 911.

Peterson told Kegley that he had gone to his ex-girlfriend's house early Sunday morning in hopes of patching up the relationship after a recent breakup. But, he said, Peterson lost control when the meeting ended in an argument and other people started ridiculing him as a "worthless pig." Police, who declined to provide details of the argument, said Peterson stormed out, retrieved an AR-15 rifle from his car outside and burst back into the house firing 30 shots that killed all but one of the people at the party...

The rampage raised questions in the remote northern Wisconsin community of 2,000 about how Peterson could have met requirements to become a law enforcement officer, especially after police acknowledged Monday that Peterson received no psychological screening before he was hired. Some questioned the wisdom of hiring someone so young. "No person that I've ever known at 20 years old was responsible enough to be a police officer," said Steve Bocek, of Oak Creek, whose nephew Bradley Schultz was killed. "It's unbelievable. You don't have the mind to be a police officer. It takes a lot."... Peterson was hired as full-time deputy sheriff on Sept. 11, 2006, at the age of 19.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting;_ylt=AvQcAiXiynF7B2wREaOJjHas0NUE

[pitohui]

1. so that's the take home message?

every 20 year old is a bum who is not yet responsible enough for a "real job" as a police officer because of the actions of one fuckwit?

[razors edge]

7. Pretty much,

They are however more than responsible enough to pack a fully auto M-16 if they wear a slightly different uniform apparently.

Marines gave me one at 17.

[liberalmuse]

2. Cops are scaring me again.

Either there's an unusual boon in reporting crazy cop stories, or we are not getting very good quality cops these days. "I'm sorry. I just shot 6 teenagers to death, but I din't mean to. In my defense, they did call me a worthless pig, so it's somehow justified." Jesus, I'm turning into Nancy Grace.

[scarletwoman]

3. What I'm REALLY curious about is if he'd been in the military before becoming a cop.

It would seem probably not, given how young he is. But it would be interesting to know for sure.

Most likely he's just another control freak asshole, I suppose.

sw

[liberalmuse]

5. That was my first thought.

And I am ashamed.

[scarletwoman]

13. Why would you be ashamed? It's a perfectly logical question, lots of ex-military go into police work

And it's a fact that there are soldiers coming back from our current military ativities who exhibit symptons of being mentally and emotionally scarred from the experience. It's also a fact that a small percentage of people who have experienced this kind of mental/emotional trauma may end up exhibiting difficulties with anger management, and may possibly act out violenty.

It's a reasonable question, imho, I'm not at all invested in whatever the answer might be. And I've already said that I'm assuming that he's too young to have been in the military and done a tour of duty. So it's most likely a moot question.

sw

[cali]

15. I doubt it.

He's only twenty. Not much time to be in the military for two years and then become a cop.

[scarletwoman]

17. I also doubt it, as I wrote in the body of my post. Just wondered about it is all. (nt)

[TahitiNut]

23. He was obviously not in the military.

We knew better than to fill an AR-15 30-round clip with 30 rounds. Too likely to jam. :evilgrin:

Besides, it said he was hired when he was 19.

[scarletwoman]

24. Got that. Really, all I was saying is that the question crossed my mind.

And I sure as hell don't know shit about AR-15s. I'm just an old hippie pacifist.

I can see that I probably shouldn't have even posted the question. It had crossed my mind before I found out about his age, so I thought I'd mention it. (Goddess knows why...) ("Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" :banghead: )

sw

[TahitiNut]

25. Back in "my day" ....

... I'd be more likely to suspect he was refused by the military. It was a different time. :shrug:

[scarletwoman]

27. Heh. That thought crossed my mind as well. The county must have been hard up for cops. (nt)

[TheMightyFavog]

30. Yeah, that's typical for rural counties in Northern Wisconsin.

They can have a hard time filling openings in those Sheriff's departments. A lot of kids in those areas don't stick around once the graduate High School.

And they need those cops up there, Meth labs, domestic incidents, etc.

[LisaL]

33. Obviously not.

[scarletwoman]

34. i know, I know. If you had read the rest of my post instead of just the subject line

you would know that I immediately brought up the reasons why he most likely WASN'T military.

[lonestarnot]

4. May he ROT IN HELL!

[TahitiNut]

21. Perhaps ALL of them will ... just on different levels.

:shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. Why would all of them?

:shrug:

[lateo]

6. I had a room mate like this guy once.

The guy was a total nutjob. He was a cop who would sit in his room cleaning weapons and reciting lines from "Full Metal Jacket"...all by himself. When I wasn't there he would go through my room looking for things...what I don't know. I bought some locks for my room and somehow this fool managed to break them the first day they were one while I was at work. This was a long time ago and I wouldn't be surprised if he has killed someone by now.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. more likely, an executive for DynCorp or Blackwater.

a high ranking one, no less.

Did he wear a cross on his neck?

[Peregrine Took]

8. Something about this doesn't ring true - "worthless pig" doesn't sound like

the language of any young people I know. Were there some '60's radicals at that party?

[MountainLaurel]

10. I'm guessing they weren't referring to his cop job

But more to his status as a whack-job ex-BF who can't let go.

[me b zola]

28. That is my thought too

This tragedy looks, sounds, and smells like domestic violence.

[MountainLaurel]

35. Are we the only ones picking up on that? n/t

[me b zola]

37. I haven't seen anyone else discuss this case in terms of DV

There is still a lot of ignorance about DV. Break-ups are the most dangerous time for the victim. It is not uncommon for the abuser to take the lives of others when killing his prime target.

[JVS]

12. I was there and the Freedom Rock was blasting, man

:hippie:

[mark414]

19. really? you must only hang around with the squares then, man...

[JVS]

22. You're not square so check out this thread, man

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7012844&mesg_id=7012844

[undeterred]

11. When I was that age I worked as a nurses aide

and there were twin guys about that age who were a fireman and a police officer, who used to visit grandma in the nursing home. One day the police officer made an arrest, put his gun to the suspects back, and accidentally killed him. A little trigger happy. I don't think he wore the badge very long after that.

[EFerrari]

29. When I was that age I was translating in Federal Court.

Luckily, they never issued me a gun. :(

[eric1]

14. Temporary insanity

Clearly too young to be a cop. No doubt the temporary insanity defense plea will be used in this case.

[LisaL]

31. I don't think dead need a defense. He is dead.

[JVS]

16. If you can't say something nice....

:-)

[NC_Nurse]

18. .

:rofl: you so bad...

[TahitiNut]

20. People who never outgrew adolescent schoolyard taunts and bullying ...

... won't outgrow anything, ever again. When insanity runs amok, the 'lessons' are often wildly disproportional and lose-lose. Tragic.

[pansypoo53219]

26. i have been to crandon.

VERY quiet little town. and i would say, could be very redneck. it taint no eagle river.
actually planning on going there next week. i shall probable put something up on my blog.

[Wiley50]

32. Turns out she was right and sometimes the truth can get you killed n/t

[The Inquisitive]

38. guess she was right...

and then some...

[western mass]

39. What does this have to do with being a cop?

This is a random yahoo with a gun.