( NYPost )
Police shot and killed an armed student outside a Wisconsin middle school Wednesday, sending students fleeing for their lives — including some who escaped on in-line skates.
Authorities responded to an “active shooter” situation reported outside Mount Horeb Middle School and “neutralized” a student with a gun, school officials said.
No one else was harmed, State Attorney General Josh Kaul said at a press conference Wednesday evening.
“This incident took place outdoors. The subject in this case never gained entry,” he said.
Authorities described the student as a juvenile male but did not provide further identification. It’s not clear how many officers fired their weapons or whether the suspect had shot at them.
The investigation is ongoing, Kaul said.
Hours later, school officials were still working to get students who had been locked down since before noon back with their families.
Terrified parents said that their children hid in closets, scared to take out their phones to call or text. One middle schooler said his class fled the school gym on in-line skates.
Brittany Rodriguez, a mother of four, told WMTV her son called her in a panic and said he heard multiple gunshots.
“To get a call when you’re at work from your babies crying, saying there’s a shooting going on and we’re scared, and you’re 30 minutes away from them,” Rodriguez said.
Alyssa Kopsczynski, mother of a 12-year-old, said she heard all the sirens going off from her home and immediately got a “gut-wrenching feeling you never want to experience as a parent.”
Her seventh-grade daughter, Macy, recalled the tense moments sitting in her classroom as police cleared the building.
“Well there’s just a bunch of police officers that kept knocking on the door, making sure it was barricaded, and our sub that we had was by the door, ready, and we’re all just sitting there, quiet and texting our parents,” she told WMTV.
The district announced around 11:15 a.m. that all schools had been locked down. In an update posted on social media, officials confirmed that there were no injuries but “the alleged assailant” had been harmed.
Witnesses described seeing children running from the middle school.
Jeanne Keller said she heard about five gunshots while in her shop The Quilting Jeanne, just down the block from the campus that includes the middle school.
“It was maybe like pow-pow-pow-pow,” Keller said. “I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the children running … I probably saw 200 children.”
One middle schooler, 12-year-old Max Kelly, said his class was in the school gym practicing in-line skating when they heard gunshots.
When his teacher told the class to get out of the school they skated to a street, ditched the skates and ran to a convenience store and gas station where they hid in a bathroom.
He was sitting with his mother Wednesday afternoon waiting for his younger siblings to be released while wearing just his socks.
“I don’t think anywhere is safe anymore,” said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.
Mount Horeb Superintendent Steve Salerno said schools would be closed on Thursday to give students and staff time to recover from the scare, WMTV reported. He said they hope to have everyone return to classes on Friday.
Mount Horeb, which is about 25 miles west of the state capital Madison, is home to around 7,600 people and the central office of outerwear retailer Duluth Trading Company.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Ever said he has been briefed on the situation.