Mount Horeb student fatally shot by police after pointing pellet rifle at officers, DOJ says
A 14-year-old Mount Horeb student killed by police Wednesday had pointed a Ruger .177 caliber pellet rifle at officers before they shot him, the state Department of Justice said in a statement Saturday.
According to the department, the boy did not comply with officers' commands to drop the weapon, and police shot him after he pointed the weapon at them.
"Lifesaving measures were deployed but the subject died on scene," according to the statement.
No one else was injured. The Mount Horeb police officers who were involved remain on administrative leave in accordance with agency policy.
Police called to Mount Horeb Middle School at 11:11 a.m. Wednesday
The call to police reporting someone moving toward Mount Horeb Middle School with a backpack and what looked like a long gun came in at 11:11 a.m. Wednesday.
Police found the teen matching the description east of the school's main entrance at 900 E. Garfield St., according to the department.
Sources identified the student to the Journal Sentinel Friday as Damian Haglund, an eighth grader at Mount Horeb Middle School.
He was killed before he could get inside the school, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said at a news conference the day of the shooting.
Anxious hours during school lockdown
The middle school and four other Mount Horeb Area School District schools were locked down late Wednesday morning. Some remained locked down into that evening.
The district serves about 2,500 children across five schools.
More: What to know about Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, where police responded to an active shooter
An emergency alert was also sent to residents' phones warning of an active shooter at the middle school.
Parents waiting to reunify with their children expressed fear at hearing of an active shooter at the school in addition to the loss of a sense of security.
Many children were in tears as they rejoined their parents.
Residents of the small village about 20 miles southwest of Madison also expressed shock.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Sophie Carson, Jessica Van Egeren, Claire Reid, Elliot Hughes, Mary Spicuzza, and Laura Schulte contributed to this story.
Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mount Horeb student killed by police pointed pellet rifle at officers
