Kenosha police: Armed teen attempted to enter school, arrested

KENOSHA, Wis. - Kenosha police say a 13-year-old boy who was armed, attempted to enter Roosevelt Elementary School on Thursday morning, Nov. 7 is now in custody. He was taken into custody just after 2 p.m. 

Officials say just after 9 a.m. Thursday, a suspicious suspect walked into a secured area at the school with a backpack. When he was approached by school staff, the man immediately fled the area – and all KUSD schools were put on a secure hold. Officials said this means business as usual is occurring inside schools, but no one can enter or exit buildings at this time. 

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Kenosha police received numerous tips about the suspect being in the area. Some of those tips led to the arrest of the 13-year-old KUSD student near 67th Street and 30th Avenue. Officers who were on the scene were able to convince the teen to surrender. 

Video of teen before school incident

Investigators say they received at least one video of the teen suspect holding a firearm. They shared some of that video with the media – which officials said shows the teen and "appears to be practicing room entry techniques."

Officials said they also have confirmed information that the teen performed multiple internet searches related to school shootings ahead of this incident. 

"The only reason the individual was not able to fully enter the school was because of the quick and diligent actions of the school staff," said Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton. 

The chief said there was a report that there was another incident that occurred at Gateway. He confirmed that was unfounded.

Teen tried to enter school numerous times

Superintendent Weiss indicated the teen tried to enter Roosevelt numerous times – checking doors and entrances before coming around to the secured entry.

"I really do want to emphasize that, because having those schools were built back when schools were built, such as Roosevelt, they were built to get students out in the event of a fire. They weren't built for some of the challenges we face today," Weiss said. 

Kenosha Mayor David Bogdala said this was a scary moment for a lot of parents in the district.

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"What I take out of this, and I hope everyone else does, is that all the work and all the collaboration that goes in, in preparing for emergency situations like this, worked," the mayor said.

"We are thankful"

"The safety work that we've done as a district today prevented further tragedy," Superintendent Weiss said. "Our staff and students, along with law enforcement partners, regularly review, plan and drill for incidents like the one we encountered at Roosevelt this morning. We do not take this lightly," said KUSD Superintendent Jeff Weiss. "We are thankful for the secured entrance at Roosevelt Elementary School that prevented easy access to the building and our students and staff. We are thankful for our staff who bravely stop the individual and ask questions that cause the individual to question their choices and flee. We are thankful for multiple law enforcement agencies who stepped up to surround our schools, not just in Kenosha Unified, but throughout the county. We are thankful for our staff who continue to work with our children, your children, our students throughout the day to provide as much normalcy as possible, despite their own fears that they may be facing. We are thankful for our families who trusted us to work with law enforcement to keep their children safe."