The woman who survived a shooting that left her husband, her daughter and another man dead on a Wisconsin trail bridge is telling relatives that her husband’s final words were, “Forgive the shooter.”
Erin Stoffel, 32, her husband Jonathon, 33, and their three young children had set out on a walk with their dog on a beautiful spring evening Sunday in Menasha, a community of around 17,000 about 30 miles south of Green Bay. They were halfway across the Trestle Trail bridge when a gunman, apparently upset over a fight with his ex-fiancee, opened fire.
Erin Stoffel was shot three times but managed to get her two youngest children, ages 5 and 7, off the bridge after her husband and oldest daughter, 11-year-old Olivia Stoffel, were shot and killed. Another man, Adam Bentdahl, 31, of Appleton, was also killed. The gunman, 27-year-old military veteran Sergio Daniel Valencia del Toro, then turned the gun on himself.
Erin Stoffel was rushed into surgery at a nearby hospital and was listed in critical condition on Sunday. Doctors have upgraded her condition to serious on Tuesday.
In a posting on a fundraising site, relatives said she was awake and conscious and communicating by writing on a dry erase board because a breathing tube prevents her from speaking.
“The family would like to make it known that Erin said Jon’s last words to her after he was shot were, ‘Forgive the shooter.’ We truly love because Christ first loved us. This was the heart of a man who walked the talk — his dying breath and last wish was only that his wife forgive the gunman.”
Jim Campbell, Erin Stoffel’s brother, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that his sister and Jonathan Stoffel had been married for more than a decade. Jonathan worked multiple jobs — including construction, gardening and remodeling — and enjoyed the outdoors, especially fishing.
Campbell said Olivia was a bright child who loved her siblings and nature. He said Erin is a “die-hard mom.”
The family often went camping, fishing and walking, he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“I don’t know why it happened,” Campbell said of the attack. “I don’t know the motive. I feel sorry for the shooter’s family.”
Bentdahl’s family said he had “a bright personality and was a kind and gentle person.”
“Our prayers go out to the other family who lost their father and daughter, and mother who is struggling for life along with the man who took his own life,” they said in a statement.
Family and friends of the Stoffel family gathered for a prayer ceremony Monday at Calvary Bible Church in Neenah. Olivia Stoffel attended fifth grade at Fox Valley Christian Academy, which is attached to the church.
Grace Demerath, who sat next to Olivia in class, cried on her mother’s lap during the ceremony. “Why did it have to be a fifth-grader who dies?” Grace Demerath said. “Why Olivia?”
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Erin Stoffel’s friend, Tari Schroth, 36, described the Stoffels as kind, genuine and warm. She said she’s in a state of disbelief.
“But then I realize they’re with Jesus,” she said of Jonathan and Olivia Stoffel. “And that’s the only hope you have in this.”
Campbell, Erin Stoffel’s brother, said people should stop praying about an end for gun violence and take action.
“Instead of praying, do something. Do something about guns,” he said. “When you kill, you can’t take it back. Nobody needs a gun.”
The gunman, Valencia del Toro, had served in the Air Force. It’s unclear whether he ever served overseas, according to Air Force officials.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh said he was a second-semester freshman there.
Police say Valencia del Toro armed himself with two handguns after a fight with his fiancee, then rode his bicycle to the trail bridge. Valencia del Toro rode his bike past other people before shooting at the victims. He didn’t say a word before opening fire with two handguns, a 9 mm and a revolver, police Chief Tim Styka said.
Associated Press contributed.