Wisconsin school district says active shooter ‘neutralized’ outside middle school, lockdown ordered

MOUNT HOREB, ​​​​Wisconsin — A Wisconsin school district said an active shooter was “neutralized” outside a high school in Mount Horeb on Wednesday, and no one in the building was injured.

Authorities said without providing details that the “alleged attacker” was injured, and a witness said she heard gunshots and saw dozens of children running.

Police from multiple agencies patrolled the high school with guns Wednesday afternoon. Photos obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal showed more than a dozen law enforcement vehicles, including SWAT-style trucks, near the school with emergency lights flashing. First responders surrounding a stretcher on the sidewalk were also visible.

The district said in several Facebook posts starting at about 11:30 a.m. that students at all schools in the district were on lockdown and family members were told not to come to any school.

“An initial search of the high school did not reveal any additional suspects,” a message said around noon. “Equally importantly, we have no reports of any individuals being harmed, with the exception of the alleged attacker.”

In an earlier post, the district said that “the threat outside the building has been neutralized.”

The district’s messages did not provide details about what happened at the school in Mount Horeb, a city in southwestern Wisconsin about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the state capital of Madison.

Police in Mount Horeb said they could not immediately provide more information. A person who answered the phone at the school district office declined comment.

A representative from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately be reached.

Shannon Hurd, 44, and her former husband, Nathian Hurd, 39, were in a car waiting to be reunited with their 13-year-old son, Noah, who was still at the locked-down school.

Shannon Hurd said she was alerted to the incident by a text message from Noah saying he loved her. She said she almost fell down the stairs at work while running to the school.

“I just want my child,” she said. “They should be safe at school, and especially at Mount Horeb.”

Heidy Lange, owner of Firefly Events Decor & Flowers, said she was in her flower shop about two blocks from the high school when she looked outside and saw children running and “probably 50 police cars from everywhere.”

“Suddenly there was a whole group of parents running after them,” Lange said. “All our phones were beeping with all the warnings. It would destroy the city if something happened to a child here.”

Jeanne Keller was at her shop, The Quilting Jeanne, near the campus where the high school and another school building are located, when she heard about five gunshots.

“It might have looked like pow-pow-pow-pow,” Keller told The Associated Press by phone. “I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the kids running…I probably saw 200 kids.”

The district said in Facebook posts that it was preparing buses to transport students from schools to a place where families could reunite with their children.

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Associated Press reporters Corey Williams in Detroit and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report.