Pastor Bill Farr read a statement from Peterson's family in which relatives expressed their shock and sorrow.
"Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and their friends. We are grieving for your losses. We feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for the acts Tyler committed," it said.
"We may never receive the answers we all seek. Like those close to Tyler we are in shock and disbelief that he would do such terrible things. This was not the Tyler we knew and loved."
Police acknowledged Peterson received no psychological screening before being hired Sept. 11, 2006. His yearlong probation ended last month. Is psychological screening fool proof? No its not. If it were ex-officer Finnigan from SOS of CPD, never would had made it on this job. How many other Officer's, and boss's fall through the cracks? Not all commit murder but there are those among us who manage to make it through the pre-psychological testing. Its a walking text book.
Psychological testing is more of a liability shield, for municipalities to hide behind, than it is a proven standard for weeding out future potential problems. Peterson was 20 years old, his girlfriend was only 18. From appearances he still processed his thoughts closer, to being a teenager than an adult. Rejection played a very strong roll in his actions. He was also a part-time Officer with very little exposure. He felt an immense sense of rejection then remorse. Yes, he lost control and his loss ended in an enormous tragedy, all the way around. Could this tragedy have been prevented through pre-hiring psychological testing, we doubt it.
Kegley a friend and co-worker said Peterson came to his door about five hours after the rampage early Sunday and calmly told him what happened.
"He wasn't running around crazy or anything. He was very, very sorry for what he did," said Kegley, adding that he gave Peterson coffee and food and later made repeated calls to 911.
It was unclear whether Peterson was shot by police, took his own life or was wounded and then shot himself.
Tyler Peterson, 20, lost control when they got into an argument and her friends began calling him a "worthless pig," Mike Kegley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The off-duty sheriff's deputy who shot six people at a pizza party told a friend he had gone to his ex-girlfriend's house hoping to patch up their relationship.