A Wisconsin teenager was taken into custody this week after attempting to enter a local elementary school while armed with a firearm.
The Firearm Incident
The Kenosha Police Department in Wisconsin reported that they believe the boy was carrying a firearm when he was stopped around 9 a.m. local time on Thursday while attempting to enter Roosevelt Elementary School with a backpack and a duffel bag. The school is located in Kenosha, about 35 miles south of Milwaukee.
According to police, school staff questioned the teenager in the secured entry area with surveillance footage showing a large black bag by his side.
At a news conference on Thursday, Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton detailed the incident, saying: “We believe that this was actually an armed suspect with a firearm and there was no legitimate reason to enter the school.”
Patton noted that “a tragedy was averted today,” as the teenager never entered the school.
“The only reason the individual was not able to fully enter the school was because of the quick and diligent actions of the school staff,” Patton said, adding that the teenage boy fled from the school on foot as he was approached by school officials.
Who Is the Teenager?
Police have not disclosed the boy’s identity or explained how he accessed the firearm. According to local ABC affiliate WISN-TV, authorities noted that the boy’s mother is cooperating with the investigation.
The student, currently in custody, attends Mahone Middle School and previously attended Roosevelt Elementary, police said. He was apprehended around 2:05 p.m. following a community-wide search.
According to Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Weiss, the teenage suspect “actually tried numerous outside doors and entrances before coming around to where our secured entry is.”
Investigation Into Teen
During the press conference on Thursday, Patton said that investigators “have information that the suspect performed multiple internet searches related to school shootings prior to the incident.”
Patton noted that in the weeks leading up to Thursday, the suspect had shared videos and made several remarks to other students.
“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,” Patton said during the press conference on Thursday.
All schools within the Kenosha Unified district remained under a “secure hold” lockdown for the remainder of Thursday.
Classes were already canceled for Friday at the school, with the district previously designating the day for a staff workday.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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