Neighbors react to deadly home invasion in Kewaskum
KEWASKUM, Wis. - The Washington County Sheriff's Office is still working to piece together the series of events that left three people dead, including the suspect, in what appears to be a home invasion in the town of Kewaskum.
The sheriff's office, along with the Department of Criminal Investigation, is staying tight-lipped about what investigators have learned so far.
Spending much of the day at a home on Forest View Road, but the information that has been released along with those we spoke with who live along this rural road providing some context to the chaos that unfolded.
Police presence in Washington County
As investigators swept the snow outside a home with a metal detector Thursday, deputies trudged through the snow nearby.
Skid marks, a downed tree and an oil slick with broken glass are down the road.
One homeowner tells FOX6 another car was driven off their driveway into a ditch, their home was broken into, but no one home at the time.
But there's some indication of what happened along this half-mile stretch road in a rural corner of Kewaskum Wednesday afternoon.
"You just don’t know until you get home," neighbor Jeff Waala said.
Jeff Waala
Waala was on his way home when he started to hear what was happening near his home along Forest View Road. His wife was home alone.
"I told her where my shotgun was — she knows how to use it — and I stayed on the phone with her, on and off."
An apparent home invasion, shortly before 3 p.m.
"Subject that broke into the caller’s residence, does have a 10-32, and took her keys," was heard on scanner traffic.
A man with a gun...
"Report of shots fired and a crash," the scanner radios said.
Waala says another woman ran to a neighbor for help while his wife huddled inside.
"At one point, she said she saw the SWAT team running down the road to the neighbors," he said.
Minutes after that first 911 call, the Washington County Sheriff says a second came in from a nearby home reporting gunshots and that the armed suspect was walking to the caller's home.
One person was found dead outside the first caller's home, a second person found at a separate residence.
"My condolences go out to them," Waala said.
The suspect was found dead in the woods of an apparent gunshot wound. He had a gun nearby. It's unclear if it was self-inflicted or if he was shot by police.
That and other pieces are still being put together of what exactly happened Wednesday afternoon.
The Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis tells FOX6 that he intends to release preliminary findings as soon as possible, as early as Friday.
The names of the victims are not being released at this time.
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