TOWN OF BUCHANAN, WI (WTAQ) – Multiple law enforcement agencies are at the Buchanan Town Hall Tuesday after a man apparently walked inside and shot himself.
Outagamie County Sheriff’s report that a man walked into the town hall with a handgun and pulled the trigger just before 1:30 p.m.
Investigators say they aren’t sure exactly how many people were in the town hall at the time. Authorities are still trying to figure out what caused the man to do this.
The identity of the man has not yet been released.
A Town Board meeting scheduled for tonight has been canceled.
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TOWN ADMINISTRATOR TELLS HIS STORY
During the shocking suicide that happened at the Buchanan Town Hall on Tuesday, Town Administrator/Clerk Joel Gregozeski was in his office at the time, located in the back of the building.
“I don’t have visual access to the front office area, but I did hear a single gunshot occur,” said Gregozeski. “I slowly approached the front counter area with another co-worker, checking things as we moved and progressed to the front of the building and it was at that point that we found the individual who had shot himself.”
Gregozeski says that 4 to 6 staff members are normally inside the town hall building at a given time.
“We have grief counselors coming in to speak with our front office staff, and as a result of that we will be closing our offices on Wednesday,” he said, adding that whether the office opens Thursday depends on where staffers are at after the session.
Talks of upgrading security were, ironically enough, already happening before Tuesday’s incident.
“Our discussions were really precipitated by some other events, whether it’s the Trestle Trail Bridge incident or some of the other local events that have occurred, this just brings things a little closer to home for us,” Gregozeski explains. “When you experience it and you live it that probably pushes up the emphasis to really make some hard decisions on how we want to handle our office environment and ensure that our employees are safe.”
As for re-scheduled the Town Board meeting, Gregozeski hopes to have it done within the next week to 10 days.
