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Brother of Ohio Pastor Shot 4 Times During Church Service Pleads Not Guilty

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 01:31 PST, Mar 4, 2016

Daniel Gregory Schooler, 68, the brother of an Ohio pastor Reverend William B. Schooler, 70, has pleaded not guilty after being accused of shooting and killing his brother during a Sunday Service at St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton.

As ABC News reports, Schooler, who faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted, had his bail set at $1 million on Wednesday during a court appearance. Daniel Schooler sat stoically in a wheelchair during the arraignment.

Dayton police still say they do not know the motive behind the shooting, which occurred inside an office during church service. The reverend was shot four times with a stolen.380 caliber handgun. The final shot was witnessed by the wife of the deceased pastor, Helen Schooler. They were married for 49 years. There were more than 20 people within the church when the shooting occurred at 12:30 p.m.

The pastor “was the intended and only target in the shooting. No one else was shot or injured,” Dayton Police Homicide Division Supervisor Sgt. Richard Blommel said.

“Schooler sat down during prayers at the church, and then went to the pastor’s office,” church member Alberta Blayth said “It wasn’t a minute and I heard two shots, and… I just got everybody out of the church. And we just kept hearing shooting, shooting. Bang, bang, bang.”

Reports say that “the defendant laid down his gun and waited for police to arrive and take him into custody.” Schooler was charged with two counts of murder and felonious assault, one count of aggravated murder, and having weapons while under disability. He is currently being held at the Montgomery County Jail in downtown Dayton.

Indications are rife that the alleged shooter had a long history of violence and mental illness and had filed a lawsuit against his brother, seeking $25,000 in a dispute over a family estate. Schooler represented himself in the case, which was subsequently thrown out by a Montgomery County judge.

Sheriff records indicate he shot a nephew in the arm in 2001, but the victim did not press charges. In the same year, he was convicted of a felonious assault with a deadly weapon and got five years probation. He had entered a not guilty plea by reason of insanity to the charge of threatening a man with a handgun. He was again charged in 2002 of kidnapping and felonious assault, and this time, he spent two years in prison.

An affidavit sworn by Dayton police Detective Nathan Via said Schooler had confronted his 70-year-old brother before noon on February 28 and, with predetermined calculation and design, “carried out a previous threat to kill the victim.”

“It’s a great time of pain, but yet a great time of understanding that even in this tragedy, that we have to stand together as a family. United, not divided,” Patricia Napier-Wright, the Schoolers’ niece, said.

Napier-Wright said she was optimistic that the justice system would take into consideration her uncle’s mental health problems.

William Schooler was a 1963 graduate of Dunbar High School and a decorated Vietnam Veteran who received the Bronze Star for his heroics during the war. He graduated from Central State University in 1972, Ohio State University in 1976, and Grace Columbia, South Carolina in 2003. Schooler was appointed pastor of the church in 2011 and had been serving as the president of the Dayton Baptist Ministers Union.

“He had deep roots in the community; he was a beloved leader,” friend Ronnie Moreland said.

A preliminary hearing for Daniel Gregory Schooler is scheduled for March 9.

[Image courtesy of Montgomery County Jail]

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