BROOKFIELD — A man 'Zoom-bombed' a Brookfield Central High School class and proceeded to "reveal his backside" to students before brandishing a handgun Thursday.
Elmbrook School District administrators tell TMJ4 News that the suspect pretended to be a student to get access to the Zoom meeting, where students were holding class both in-person and virtually.
After revealing the gun, the suspect was removed from the Zoom meeting.
School administrators and a school resource officer soon determined that the suspect did not live in the community.
The district adds that "students and staff were not at risk of harm."
An internal investigation into the school's security system found that "all appropriate security measures were in place" during the class held via Zoom.
Brookfield Central families have been notified of the incident.
Now, the Brookfield Police Department is working to identify the suspect, while the school administration investigates any connection to students at Brookfield Central who could have shared course-specific information with the suspect or others.
The school district says should a suspect be identified, the school district will pursue "all possible charges."
Several other schools in Wisconsin experienced disruptions during online learning.
A spokesperson for the Madison Metropolitan School District said a student appeared to show a BB gun in a virtual class at Madison East High School, but he is not a student at that school.
A spokesperson for Shorewood School District said a student not with the district was accidentally let in to a class at Shorewood High School. He was removed and nothing inappropriate was said, the spokesperson said.
In a statement, Zoom said it takes these disruptions very seriously and encourages its user to report any disruptions to the company and authorities, if needed.
"Zoom is committed to providing educators with the tools and resources they need on a safe and secure platform, and we are continuing to engage with all of our users on how they can best utilize Zoom’s security features to protect their meetings," a Zoom spokesperson said.
Zoom said it has enabled password protection and waiting rooms by default for those using it for school programs, and it said it updated settings so that the teacher can only share content on the screen.
In the spring, the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin released Zoom security tips to prevent unwanted intrusions.
"We always have to be really aware and do the best we can in taking all the precautionary measures," said Lisa Schiller, the director of investigations and media relations at the Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin. "You know, use a unique ID for large or public zoom calls, for example, require meeting passwords, lock a meeting once it starts."
