Hartland police search woods near North Elem. School, give all clear

HARTLAND -- Waukesha County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Hartland North Elementary School after a pair of students said they observed a suspicious-looking man in the woods behind the school just before 3 p.m. on Thursday, November 15th.

Hartland Police Chief Robert Rosch said the students reported they saw a man just north of the school in a wooded area. One of the students thought he had seen a gun. The other child did not see any weapon.

Superintendent Glenn Schilling said the school was temporarily on lockdown while police secured the perimeter of the school property. Schilling told FOX6 News there was no shooting. The school then practiced early dismissal.

Police Chief Rosch said officers searched the wooded area twice and did not find anything. He said officers are also investigating a citizen report about seeing a male upset on the opposite side of the school.

"There wasn't any shots fired. There wasn't any corroboration there was a weapon. The police department did conduct a search of the area and didn't find anything with their search at this time," Superintendent Schilling said.

The school notified parents of what was happening and re-routed car and bus traffic in front of the school when early dismissal was underway.

There are no plans to cancel school for Friday. However, there will be officers on the scene to make sure everything is normal during the start of the day.

Hartland North Elementary School offers classes for kindergarten through second grade. There's also a daycare center inside the building.

Following the shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek and the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield, neighbors told FOX6 News they were happy to see officials take this incident seriously.

"I think the kids did the right thing. It's always good to be on the safer side of things, especially with being a mom and living in the area. I'd rather be safe than sorry," one neighbor said.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.