witnesses described Children Running after the sound of gunshots near wisconsin Middle School Where? officials one said active shooter The building was “neutralized” outside on Wednesday. There are no reports of anyone being injured inside the school.
But police remained at the scene hours later, and the Mount Horeb Area School District had only announced plans to release young students from a nearby elementary school. In a post on Facebook, the district said the remaining students would remain in schools “while police continue their investigation.”
For the terrified children and their parents, the initial event and the wait to be reunited were terrifying. Parents reported children hiding in closets, afraid to talk on cell phones, and one middle school student said his class initially fled the school gym on in-line skates.
The district used Facebook posts throughout the day to provide updates, with the first reports coming around 11:30 a.m. that all schools in the district had been placed on lockdown. Officials in Mount Horeb said, without giving details, that the “alleged attacker” was harmed, and witnesses described hearing gunshots and seeing dozens of children running away.
More than four hours later, school buses were lined up for blocks outside the middle school and officers had used police tape to cordon off the middle school, the nearby high school and the playgrounds between the two buildings.
“An initial search of the middle school has not located any additional suspects,” a post around noon said. “Importantly, other than the alleged attacker, we have no reports of any individual being harmed.”
Earlier, the district had posted that “the threat has neutralize Outside the building” but did not elaborate on what happened at the school in Mount Horeb, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the state capital, Madison.
Jean Keller said she heard five gunshots inside her shop, The Quilting Jean, just blocks away from the complex, which also includes the middle school.
“It was probably like pow-pow-pow-pow,” Keller told The Associated Press by phone. “I thought it was fireworks. I went out and saw all the kids running… I probably saw 200 kids.
A middle school student said his class was practicing in-line skating in the school gym when they heard gunshots.
Max Kelly, 12, said his teacher asked the class to walk out of the school. He said they began skating down a street, took off their in-line skates and ran to a nearby convenience store and gas station and hid in a bathroom.
Kelly was reunited with his parents and sat with them on a hill on Wednesday afternoon, waiting for his younger siblings to be released from their schools. He still wore socks, his shoes were left behind.
“I don’t think anywhere is safe anymore,” said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.
Police in Mount Horeb said they could not immediately provide information. A person who answered the phone at the school district office declined to comment. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office directed reporters to the staging area, but did not provide an update, hours after the school district alerted families about the incident.
The district had begun releasing some students from other schools by afternoon and worried parents gathered at the bus depot waiting for their children.
Shannon Heard, 44, and her ex-husband, Nathaniel Heard, 39, sat in a car waiting for their 13-year-old son, Noah, who was still at the locked-down middle school.
Shannon Heard said she first heard through a message from Noah that he loved her. She said she narrowly missed falling down the stairs at work as she ran to school.
“I just want my baby,” she said. “They should be safe at school.”
Stacey Smith, 42, was at the bank Wednesday when she saw police cars arriving and soon received a school district text alert about an active shooter.
She initially couldn’t reach her two children — junior Abby and seventh-grader Cole. Finally, she reached Abby by phone but the girl whispered that she was hiding in a closet and couldn’t talk. She eventually reconnected with both children and learned they were okay.
“Not here,” she said incredulously. “You hear about it everywhere but not here.”
Schools across the country have sought ways to prevent mass shootings inside their walls, from physical security measures and active shooter drills to technology including detailed digital maps. Many also rely on teachers and administrators working to detect early signs of students’ mental health struggles.
Mount Horeb Area School District’s safety protocols were not immediately clear Wednesday and there was no information about the identity or condition of the alleged attacker.
The village is home to about 7,600 people and is the central office of outdoor gear retailer Duluth Trading Company. Mount Horeb promotes itself as the “Troll Capital of the World”, a reference to the carvings of trolls posted in its downtown district as an homage to a Scandinavian gift shop that used to house long-haul truck drivers in the 1970s. It was a milestone.
Heidi Lang, owner of Firefly Events Decor & Flowers, said she was in her flower shop about two blocks from the school when she looked outside and saw kids running and “probably 50 police cars coming from everywhere.”
“Suddenly there was a whole bunch of parents running after them,” Lang said. “All our phones were beeping with all the alerts. If anything happens to any child here, it will devastate the city.”
But police remained at the scene hours later, and the Mount Horeb Area School District had only announced plans to release young students from a nearby elementary school. In a post on Facebook, the district said the remaining students would remain in schools “while police continue their investigation.”
For the terrified children and their parents, the initial event and the wait to be reunited were terrifying. Parents reported children hiding in closets, afraid to talk on cell phones, and one middle school student said his class initially fled the school gym on in-line skates.
The district used Facebook posts throughout the day to provide updates, with the first reports coming around 11:30 a.m. that all schools in the district had been placed on lockdown. Officials in Mount Horeb said, without giving details, that the “alleged attacker” was harmed, and witnesses described hearing gunshots and seeing dozens of children running away.
More than four hours later, school buses were lined up for blocks outside the middle school and officers had used police tape to cordon off the middle school, the nearby high school and the playgrounds between the two buildings.
“An initial search of the middle school has not located any additional suspects,” a post around noon said. “Importantly, other than the alleged attacker, we have no reports of any individual being harmed.”
Earlier, the district had posted that “the threat has neutralize Outside the building” but did not elaborate on what happened at the school in Mount Horeb, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the state capital, Madison.
Jean Keller said she heard five gunshots inside her shop, The Quilting Jean, just blocks away from the complex, which also includes the middle school.
“It was probably like pow-pow-pow-pow,” Keller told The Associated Press by phone. “I thought it was fireworks. I went out and saw all the kids running… I probably saw 200 kids.
A middle school student said his class was practicing in-line skating in the school gym when they heard gunshots.
Max Kelly, 12, said his teacher asked the class to walk out of the school. He said they began skating down a street, took off their in-line skates and ran to a nearby convenience store and gas station and hid in a bathroom.
Kelly was reunited with his parents and sat with them on a hill on Wednesday afternoon, waiting for his younger siblings to be released from their schools. He still wore socks, his shoes were left behind.
“I don’t think anywhere is safe anymore,” said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.
Police in Mount Horeb said they could not immediately provide information. A person who answered the phone at the school district office declined to comment. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office directed reporters to the staging area, but did not provide an update, hours after the school district alerted families about the incident.
The district had begun releasing some students from other schools by afternoon and worried parents gathered at the bus depot waiting for their children.
Shannon Heard, 44, and her ex-husband, Nathaniel Heard, 39, sat in a car waiting for their 13-year-old son, Noah, who was still at the locked-down middle school.
Shannon Heard said she first heard through a message from Noah that he loved her. She said she narrowly missed falling down the stairs at work as she ran to school.
“I just want my baby,” she said. “They should be safe at school.”
Stacey Smith, 42, was at the bank Wednesday when she saw police cars arriving and soon received a school district text alert about an active shooter.
She initially couldn’t reach her two children — junior Abby and seventh-grader Cole. Finally, she reached Abby by phone but the girl whispered that she was hiding in a closet and couldn’t talk. She eventually reconnected with both children and learned they were okay.
“Not here,” she said incredulously. “You hear about it everywhere but not here.”
Schools across the country have sought ways to prevent mass shootings inside their walls, from physical security measures and active shooter drills to technology including detailed digital maps. Many also rely on teachers and administrators working to detect early signs of students’ mental health struggles.
Mount Horeb Area School District’s safety protocols were not immediately clear Wednesday and there was no information about the identity or condition of the alleged attacker.
The village is home to about 7,600 people and is the central office of outdoor gear retailer Duluth Trading Company. Mount Horeb promotes itself as the “Troll Capital of the World”, a reference to the carvings of trolls posted in its downtown district as an homage to a Scandinavian gift shop that used to house long-haul truck drivers in the 1970s. It was a milestone.
Heidi Lang, owner of Firefly Events Decor & Flowers, said she was in her flower shop about two blocks from the school when she looked outside and saw kids running and “probably 50 police cars coming from everywhere.”
“Suddenly there was a whole bunch of parents running after them,” Lang said. “All our phones were beeping with all the alerts. If anything happens to any child here, it will devastate the city.”
