Two of the three women who gathered at the M & M Lounge on Friday night were there to support the third, Charlotte Grahn. All were shot by Grahn's husband.
------------
GRESHAM -- Friends and family of the three women shot by an off-duty Clackamas County sheriff's sergeant grieved Sunday and questioned why someone sworn to protect the public would go on what they consider a calculated, murderous rampage.
Charlotte Grah
------
Witnesses inside downtown Gresham's M & M Lounge say Jeffrey A. Grahn pulled a woman, thought to be his wife, outside the building Friday night and shot her, then returned to a crowded room and opened fire on her two friends.
"The look on his face, I just remember, it was, like, so evil. It was just the most evil thing I've seen," said Mark Weisgram, whose band was performing on stage as the shooting transpired. "It was fierce. It was almost like an animal look, you know? It wasn't of the world that I know."
Kathleen Hoffmeister
---------
The women had gathered Friday night with Charlotte Grahn, 47, whose husband filed for divorce in August. The women had daughters who previously were cheerleaders at Sam Barlow High School.
Charlotte Grahn worked hard at her marriage for years but recently had decided to make herself happy, her friend Sheila Meyer said. Jeffrey Grahn, 46, changed his mind about the divorce and tried to win his wife back, but it was too late, Meyer said.
Vickie Schulmerich
----------
He killed my friend, and she didn't do anything. Today I placed a rosary on her and touched her hair. And I'll never see her again because of him," said Patrick Keep, owner of the business.
Hoffmeister grew up in Mount Vernon, Wash., and became an integral part of her husband's boisterous family. She was fun to be around, but also serious and giving, said Mark Hoffmeister, her brother-in-law. He said his sister-in-law didn't know Charlotte Grahn particularly well but went out Friday to offer support. Mark Hoffmeister said Jeffrey Grahn shot his sister-in-law in the face. "He knew who he was shooting. And yet, I don't know why he shot her," Mark Hoffmeister said. "It's just so sad. Here she is trying to help this poor woman."
Connie Schulmerich said she is concerned that
Jeffrey Grahn has been portrayed as an otherwise good guy who for 15 years worked at the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, most recently as a swing-shift patrol supervisor. Connie Schulmerich said Grahn shot her sister-in-law in the back of the head. "He hunted people down," she said. "He assassinated people."
More:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/families_friends_of_three_wome.html