A small town in Wisconsin was shocked this week when authorities “used deadly force” against a 14-year-old who brought a rifle to his middle school.
However, school administrators also said they are grateful that there were no other deaths or injuries related to the incident.
“This could have been a far worse tragedy,” said Superintendent Dr. Steve Salerno of the Mount Horeb Area School District, according to USA Today. “We’re beyond grateful for the community’s support of our beautiful children and our loving staff.”
Mount Horeb is a town of about 7,700 people around 20 minutes outside of Madison, Wisc. There are five schools in the district.
According to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the incident at Mount Horeb Middle School occurred Monday morning.
It said there was a report of someone with a woman outside the middle school and that it was locked down due to the threat.
“This incident took place outdoors,” said the department. “The subject in this case never gained entry to the school buildings during the incident and was a student from the Mount Horeb School District. While the investigation into the details remains ongoing, other than the subject, no other people were physically injured during this incident.”
While authorities did not identify the teen, more than six anonymous sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it was an eight-grader named Damian Haglund.
Officers who shot Haglund were wearing body cameras, per the Wisconsin DOJ. All involved law enforcement officers are now on administrative leave and an investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul did not provide information about whether the student fired shots at officers during a press conference, said the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Kaul also didn’t provide information about whether the student indicated they would bring a gun to school before the incident occurred.
“The physical security of the school,” appears to have played a role in preventing the student from entering the school, he said.
From Jan. 1 of this year to April 18, there were already 18 school shootings in the U.S., according to CNN. Most (14) were at K-12 schools.
“The incidents left nine people dead and at least 25 others injured, according to CNN’s analysis of events reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety,” said the outlet.
School shootings decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic school lockdowns, but shot up again as pandemic restrictions eased. CNN said that 2021, 2022 and 2023 all set records since at least 2008. In 2022, Axios also reported that school shooters were getting younger – from 2018 to 2022, the deadliest shootings in the country were committed by men age 21 or younger.
Last year, Audacy reported on the case of a 6-year-old student who shot their 25-year-old teacher in Newport News, Va. Though the teacher was injured, she did not die.