WAUKESHA, Wis. — A probable school shooting in Waukesha was stopped before it could even happen.
On Friday, a 17-year-old was arrested near Waukesha North High School. The teen had a rifle and two magazines on him at the time. Police said he was not a student at the school.
Charges are expected later this week and officials said he will be charged as an adult. Police said, "There is a mental health commitment that we have to navigate first."
Police are crediting students with reporting the threat right away. Captain Dan Baumann with the Waukesha Police Department said students reported seeing someone with a mask over their face and carrying a firearm near their school.
"These students felt comfortable enough to take information where they felt their life was threatened and immediately notified the resource officer. They didn't take off in a car and worry about themselves, they didn't sit down and snap chat it and put it on social media. They went directly (and) notified somebody, protecting over 1,200 kids that day," Baumann said.
Baumann called their actions heroic and courageous.
"They saved the community. I don't think people understand how important it was what those kids did," Baumann said. "Those students, I have a ton of confidence because of them that's why there was nobody injured that day."
The 17-year-old was arrested in his backyard which backs up to the high school. Police said more information about where he went throughout the day will be released in the criminal complaint later this week. Baumann said, "Clearly he was very close, if not on school property when he should've not been."
TMJ4 News asked, "Was there any indication that this could've been a school shooting?"
Baumann replied, "When somebody is making tactical maneuvers like that, bordering a school, pointing a firearm at a school, having a weapon system like that, I don't know if anybody could tell me [he] was not going to do that."
Police also credited the 'Speak Up, Speak Out' (SUSO) campaign from the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Office of School Safety.
SUSO is a state-wide resource encouraging students, and others in the school community, to report concerns or threats.
"Partly what we're trying to do with this program is encourage a culture of help-seeking," explain Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. "So that when students see something of concern they report that whether that's through SUSO or by reaching out to a trusted teacher, parent, or other adults so that action can happen following that report and that we're getting information to school officials and law enforcement so they can prevent violence in our schools."
Baumann and the police department hope to honor the students that spoke up and spoke out.
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