Police arrest 13-year-old in Wisconsin school shooting attempt
Tips from the community led to the arrest of a 13-year-old who entered a Wisconsin elementary school Thursday morning carrying a backpack and a black duffel bag.
"We received numerous tips regarding the identity and location of the person depicted in the photo. Some of those tips guided our investigation and led to the arrest of a 13-year-old Kenosha Unified School District student. Upon verification of the suspect's location, officers were able to successfully convince the suspect to surrender," Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said.
Officials said the teen is a middle school student who previously attended the school.
"We can confirm that we received at least one video depicting the suspect holding what we believe is a firearm. We also have information that the suspect performed multiple internet searches related to school shootings prior to the incident," Kenosha police said.
A large police presence was reported around 9 a.m. at Roosevelt Elementary School following reports of a suspicious person on campus.
"So the suspect actually tried numerous outside doors and entrances before coming around to where our secured entry is," Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Weiss said
School staff questioned the teen in the secured entrance area. Surveillance camera showed a large black bag at his side.
The suspect fled when approached by school staff, leading to a precautionary hold on schools to prevent entry.
"I want to acknowledge our staff who acted quickly and engaged law enforcement so they could do their part to detain the suspect. They may not have known in the exact moment what was happening, but their actions were heroic and prevented the unfathomable," Weiss said.
Upon verification of the suspect's location, officers were able to successfully convince the suspect to surrender. This arrest occurred a few blocks from the school around 2 p.m., witnesses said.
Police said the investigation revealed that the suspect shared videos and made several comments to fellow students for weeks leading up to Thursday.
"This is something that had been told to people of his growing intentions. We know that there is Internet searches and all the red flags that we would look for and expect someone to report were there. They're coming up towards saying we have we narrowly missed a tragedy today, and we're just going to re-encourage everybody when they see something, say something, help us out. Have those talks with your children. This video shouldn't have been seen by us today. This should have been reported to us earlier." Patton said.
Police said they continue to ask the public for more information about Thursday's incident.
"We want to urge parents to talk with their children and encourage them to share the videos and comments made by fellow students. Parents and/or children are asked to immediately communicate that information to law enforcement. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report that information to Kenosha Crime Stoppers," police said.
Police have not released the individual's identity or said how they had access to the gun. They did say the suspect's mother is cooperating with police but was not taken into custody Thursday.
The school district had previously scheduled a day off for students Friday for a staff workday.
Parents reactIt was a frightening day for parents who went to the school to pick up their children.
"You worry about your kids. You think school is a safe place, and I think Roosevelt did a really good job of keeping us as updated as they could and making sure that the kids didn't know the extent of what was going on and they knew that they were safe," parent Katie Crawford said.
"I just want to get my kids out of there, and I don't know what to do. I know I can't keep them out of school, but I want them to be safe," parent Dejha Dicko said.
