Police shoot dead gunman during school attack with up to 70 kids trapped inside

24 October 2023 , 08:28

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Police responded at around 7pm on Monday evening (Image: Fox6)

One man has been killed during a shootout at a middle school as up to 70 frightened children remained trapped inside.

Police in Germantown were called to Kennedy Middle School in Wisconsin after they were informed about a man “acting erratically” in the car park at 7pm on Monday. After they arrived a shootout sparked up as the person climbed onto the school’s roof and shot at the first responders. The cops returned fire and the gunman was shot dead, the DOJ said.

As the ordeal played out around 50 to 70 school students were stuck inside the building as after-school activities including cheerleading and basketball were cut short. The Germantown School District has announced that the middle school is placed on lockdown due to a “school safety threat”.

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Seventh grader Samantha Scherdin was inside school for dance practice when the building was put into lockdown. “Me and my friends were just all together hugging and crying. But we were told we had to be quiet so nothing would come into the building,” she explained when describing the horrifying ordeal.

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Three police were involved in a shootout with a man "acting erratically" (Fox6)

“But we were told no one was in the building. Just stuff going around and we heard gunshots and yelling,” Ms Scherdin added. No one other than the gunman was injured and the three police officers who were involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave as is agency policy

At 8.40pm that evening, the Germantown School District released a statement: “Due to a school safety threat at Kennedy Middle School this evening, a lockdown was enforced. The Germantown Police Department is at KMS presently.”

The students trapped inside were driven to a nearby elementary school after the incident (Fox6)

Students were picked up from the school by buses and taken to MacArthur Elementary, a school down the road from Kennedy Middle. Parents were requested to bring ID to pick up their children and were given further information when they arrived. Before 11.30pm the district sent an email informing parents the school would be closed today.

An investigation into the shootout has been launched by the DOJ’s Division of Criminal Investigation. A report will be provided to the Washington County District Attorney when the investigation has concluded.

Alex Croft