Police killed student outside Wisconsin school after reports of someone with a weapon, official says

Police shot and killed a student outside a Wisconsin middle school, prompting lockdowns and an ongoing investigation.

Police shot and killed a student outside a Wisconsin middle school on May 1 after receiving a report of someone with a weapon, the State's attorney general said in the first law enforcement briefing on gunshots that sent children fleeing and prompted an hourslong lockdown of local schools.

Authorities had previously said an active shooter who never got inside the building was “neutralized” outside Mount Horeb Middle School. State Attorney General Josh Kaul told reporters on May 1 evening no one else was harmed and that an investigation is ongoing.

“This incident took place outdoors. The subject in this case never gained entry,” he said.

Authorities described the student as a juvenile male but didn't provide an age or indicate which of the Mount Horeb district's schools he attended.

Mr. Kaul declined to answer several questions about what happened once police responded, including whether the student had fired a weapon, what type of weapon he had, and whether he tried to get inside the school. Authorities said multiple Mount Horeb officers, wearing body cameras, had fired weapons but they did not say how many.

Police remained on the scene hours afterward while students were kept locked down in buildings late into the afternoon before slowly being released to relatives.

For panicked kids and their terrified parents, it was an anxious, unsettling wait. Parents described children hiding in closets, afraid to communicate on cell phones, and one middle schooler said his class initially fled the school gym on in-line skates.