Ohio: Pastor Shot Dead by His Brother During Church Service

(FACEBOOK/Daniel Schooler)August 22, 2014 Facebook image

While services were going on at the St. Peters Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio, a pastor was shot multiple times and was killed inside his office.

Local police said Pastor William Schooler was shot by his own brother, Daniel Schooler. The 68-year-old gunman reportedly had one main target since no other people were shot or injured during the shooting.

According to WHIO News, the 70-year-old Reverend was gunned down before 12:30 p.m., just before the Sunday services ended. The choir was still singing the final numbers when the shooting started and people attending the services scrambled out of the building. A witness said she saw the pastor's brother walk toward the pastor's office, which is located at the back of the church building. "I just got everybody out of the church and we just kept hearing shooting and shooting," Alberta Blayth said.

Choir director Curtis Booker also said he saw the accused follow his brother into the back of the building after the service had been turned over to the choir for wrapping up the service.

Photos obtained by the outlet show some church members giving each other hugs and consoling themselves as the accused was led out of the facility in handcuffs. Sgt. Creigee Coleman said, "I want to make sure the public understands this is not a random act of violence. This was somewhat a domestic situation between family members."

The shooter is currently detained at the Montgomery County Jail, and while the church people continue to grieve their leader's loss, a Schooler family member explained that Daniel had been dealing with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The family is also grieving, but they have decided to stick together and move forward as a team.

Both the accused and the victim have children and a niece of the two said the family won't turn away from each other despite the unfortunate events that their family has been involved in lately.

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