Pastor Killed by Brother at Church Has Long History of Violence
William Schooler, 70, the beloved pastor and community advocate who was shot dead inside his church by his younger brother while the choir sang on Sunday, might have been killed due to a longtime dispute over inheritance money.
According to the Dayton Daily News, the pastor's younger brother, Daniel Schooler, 68, who is being held without bond for the murder of his brother, also had a long history of violence and suspected mental health issues.
Daniel reportedly filed a lawsuit against the pastor and other family members in 2011, seeking his inheritance from the Council of the St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church where he allegedly killed his brother on Sunday.
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"This council has made payout to themselves and they refuse to give my inheritance as being an heir as the deed and title stated," wrote Daniel and Allen Schooler in a hand-written document filed on April 13, 2011, according to the News.
The Christian Post reached out to the police in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday morning for an update on the case but a response remains pending. No one answered at the church and telephone lines for several family members have remained busy since Monday.
Witnesses said the shooting happened while the choir sang at the end of the service. And police say they received a 911 call that a man had fired shots at about 12:30 p.m.
"It was awful, just awful," recalled Loretta Smith, a member of the St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church to local news station WDTN.
"That's when we started running," an unidentified church member told WDTN.
Daniel's 2011 claims to inheritance money in court was eventually dismissed but court records paint him as a troubled man with a long history of violence and suspected mental health issues who was repeatedly forgiven.
In 2001, according to court records cited by the News, Daniel was charged with felonious assault with a firearm specification and carrying a concealed weapon. He originally pleaded not guilty to the charges by reason of insanity but later recanted that plea to plead guilty to one count of felonious assault.
Daniel Schooler "may be mentally ill and in need of treatment" noted the court in sentencing him to five years probation.
The following year on May 7, 2002, Daniel was in court for another violent attack, this time aimed at a 27-year-old woman at a home on Lorenz Avenue, according to police.
Daniel's victim said she was at home with her 4-year-old son visiting with a friend when the pastor's brother began pacing and acting odd. He then struck her, knocking her unconscious.
When she awoke, Daniel accused her of stealing his money and threatened to kill her, says the report. He then hit, kicked and bit her. He also cut her with a small knife and threatened her son.
And he wasn't done yet.
Daniel, according to the report, grabbed the woman and forced her outside where she was choked and cut in an assault that lasted for about 40 minutes. He was indicted on felony charges of kidnapping and felonious assault and was convicted of felonious assault with a deadly weapon. He spent two years in prison.
In 2007, a friend also reported that Daniel attacked him with a golf club, striking him three times on the head without provocation, according to a report. The friend admitted that Daniel had mental issues and had hit him before and given him a black eye. Police referred the case to mental health court but the friend chose not to press charges so the case was dismissed.
Less than a year later two men said Daniel threw a hammer at them then charged at them while carrying a six-inch knife.
The men said they feared Daniel would kill them. They further testified that he had mental health problems and would regularly act out when he does not take his medication. Daniel was charged with misdemeanor counts of menacing and aggravated assault but the charges were dropped when the men didn't show up for court.
The officer who wrote the report said Schooler had been referred for mental health court but the victim did not want to pursue charges. The case was dismissed.
According to the Dayton Daily News, Pastor Schooler, a 1963 graduate of Dunbar High School and a decorated Vietnam veteran who received the Bronze Star, was also a former Dayton Board of Education member.
He graduated from Central State University in 1972, the Ohio State University in 1976 and Grace College in Columbia, South Carolina, in 2003, retired from the Dayton Public School district as a principal in 1997.
He was also a member of the Montgomery County Family and Children First Committee and was a certified city of Dayton mediator, chairman emeritus within the Priority Board system and former executive board member of CityWide Development Corp.
"He had deep roots in the community," said friend and fellow community leader Ronnie Moreland who said Schooler was the current president of the Baptist Ministers Union in Dayton.
"He was a beloved leader. It's hard to put into words what has happened," Moreland said.
