Shocked Town Seeks Comfort at Churches

Racked by grief and anger, residents of this shellshocked Oregon town thronged to churches Sunday to pray for the victims and survivors of the nation’s latest school shooting rampage.

“How do you think about the unthinkable?” asked the Rev. Ed McIndoo. “How do you come to terms with what happened?”

But there were few answers to be found at the St. Paul Center United Methodist Church, where worshipers in the packed sanctuary wept and hugged each other.

The church, across the street from Thurston High School, has been a refuge for people seeking solace since Thursday, when a student allegedly opened fire in the school cafeteria, emptying a clip of 50 bullets from his rifle that left two students dead and 22 injured.

Kipland P. Kinkel, a 15-year-old freshman, has been charged with four counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of the two students and his parents, whose bodies were found afterward at their home.

“Right when it happened, I wanted to kill that kid, to rip him apart with my bare hands,” confessed the Rev. Mark Clarke at Camp Creek Church.

Clarke has spent hours at the hospital bedside of Teresa Miltonberger, 16, who remained in critical condition with a head wound. Tony Case, 17, also was in critical condition, and four others were in serious or fair condition.

One of those, Jake Ryker, remembered saying “That’s enough” before tackling the gunman as he tried to fire with an empty clip. “I heard that ‘click,’ and it was as loud as if someone was banging on a brass gong.”

Despite a wound to his chest, the 6-foot-4 Ryker tackled Kinkel and was shot again in the left index finger as he wrestled a pistol away. Quickly, Jake’s brother, Josh, and three other boys piled on.