33-year old Trevor Salewsky (Oconto County Jail)
PESHTIGO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Authorities are releasing more information about an incident at Peshtigo High School earlier this week that left one man in jail and an officer on light duty.
Police don’t know why 33-year old Trevor Salewsky of Menominee, Michigan, brought a gun and knives with him when he attended a blood drive at the school. But they credit the students who spoke up about it with averting a potential tragedy.
Following his blood donation Monday morning, Salewsky is said to have lingered in the gymnasium for at least an hour, making some female students uncomfortable with the way he was speaking to them.
“One of the girls noticed that he had what she thought was a knife, which is unlawful to bring onto school anyway. And then more concerning was it appeared to be like a bulge. She really thought it was a gun,” said Peshtigo Police Chief Fred Popp.
The student spoke up and police were called to the school. Popp said he and a detective responded to the scene and isolated Salewsky, and when they searched him, he had a handgun, two knives and a flashlight on him.
“We recognized his name from previous contacts, asked him why he was on school property with a gun. He was very adamant that he was allowed to carry one like we were. Then he tried to resort, ‘Well, I’m a concealed carry weapons permit holder.’ And we said, ‘That doesn’t matter,'” Popp said.
Salewsky was arrested and taken to the Marinette County Jail. It was in the sallyport at the jail where he attacked the detective who drove him there.
Salewsky, according to the police chief, had hidden a handcuff key and had been practicing his escape.
“We missed the key, but he had it tucked deep into his buttocks area,” said Popp. “We had checked his belt line and the way we were taught to search, but we didn’t go — probably we should have went a little bit deeper in that area, and we couldn’t feel the key. I couldn’t feel the key.”
While the chief said Salewsky’s motive for bringing the gun and knives to the school remains unknown, he believes, for everyone’s safety, the students did the right thing by speaking up.
“I think they possibly prevented something bad from happening, depending on his intent,” said Popp.
Peshtigo’s mayor, Katie Berman, a mom of a high schooler, praised the students, too.
“I’m very proud of them and I’m sure that this will give everybody around them that extra sense to just keep your eyes open,” she said.
It’s a lesson on the importance of the old adage: If you see something, say something.
Police have referred multiple charges against Salewsky, including possession of a dangerous weapon at school and battery to a police officer. He hasn’t been formally charged.
Because of statements Salewsky has made about authorities in Marinette County, he’s being held in the Oconto County Jail.
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