Recovery continues for survivor of Wisconsin shooting rampage

Published: 2007-12-07

PICKEREL, Wis. (CNS) -- Charlie Neitzel's passion for working on automobiles helped land him a job this year at Northern Fiber Works in Crandon, where he built fiberglass race truck parts. "I like building stuff with my hands," said Neitzel, 21. His dream job ended in a nightmarish fashion Oct. 7, when Neitzel joined his best friend, Aaron Smith, 20, at a house party in Crandon, a community of about 1,900 people located northwest of Green Bay. Neitzel, Smith and five other people were shot by another longtime friend, Tyler Peterson, 20, who arrived at the party, uninvited, just minutes after Neitzel. The shooting rampage left everyone at the party, except Neitzel, dead. Peterson, an off-duty Forest County sheriff's deputy and part-time Crandon police officer, took his own life later that day. Today, Neitzel is recovering at home from the three gunshot wounds he received. He uses a wheelchair and relies on his mother, Carole, and brother Cyle, 18, to help him get around. During an interview with The Compass, newspaper of the Green Bay Diocese, Charlie and Carole Neitzel recalled the tragedy. They spoke to the paper at St. Mary Church in Pickerel, where Carole attends Mass occasionally.

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