RIPON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Panic struck as an alarm sounded inside Ripon Middle and High schools around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
The alarm alerted the schools to an active threat in the building. Ten minutes later, another alarm noted the “all clear.”
Ripon police chief Bill Wallner says the school resource officer called shortly after the first alarm to let the department know everything’s okay.
“We were immediately notified by him that it was a false alarm,” said Wallner.
He says the timing of Tuesday’s alarm was unfortunate.
“Because of the events that were occurring in our area here with the city of Oshkosh but it’s a learning experience for all of us,” Wallner said.
In a press release, Superintendent Dr. Mary Whitrock says in part, “Given the incident at Waukesha and Oshkosh this week, our staff was reviewing protocol and the RHS and RMS alarm system was inadvertently activated. All students were safe.”
She went on to say, “The staff who activated the system feel terrible about the incident. I cannot apologize enough for the stress this caused…”
Whitrock says staff “will review what occurred in an effort to prevent such an incident from ever occurring in the future.”
