KIEL, WI (WTAQ) – Law enforcement responded to a report of shots fired near Kiel High School Friday morning, but were unable to confirm that shots ever took place.
Police say a staff member alerted them about gunshots that were heard around 6:45 am.
“She indicated that she heard shots outside of the main entrance of Kiel High School,” Kiel Police Chief Dave Funkhouser said. “It is not normal to hear that kind of sound, even in a rural environment.
He said he applauds the efforts of the staff member to keep everyone safe.
“This is the time and age that we are living in people. Why take a chance. We trained them to report something that is unusual. That staff member did exactly what she was supposed to do.
The response Friday morning was swift.
“We had numerous law enforcement resources on site in less than a minute,” Chief Funkhouser said. “We began a search of the building and evacuated staff members to safety.”
Officers were spotted going into the building with guns drawn.
“We were concerned that maybe someone would do something to take advantage of our presence there and test our response. It could have been a gunshot, fireworks or something else.”
Funkouser said many officers were already at the High School as a precautionary measure from a threat that they were made aware of earlier in the week.
Earlier this week Kiel Police say they received information that an alleged school shooting was planned for Friday. Authorities say no evidence was found in relation to that rumored threat, but they were planning to have a stronger presence at the school anyway.
District Administrator Brad Ebert says students never arrived at school that day and classes were cancelled.
“The buses were rerouted to New Holstein where we had staff on site. We had seamless communication between our staff and New Holstein, and were were able to redirect those buses.
Ebert added that parents were able to meet up with the students and take them home.
School officials at New Holstein School District offered excused absences for students not comfortable with coming to school Friday.
Lakeshore Technical College in Manitowoc County was on a “preventative lockdown”, and classes were cancelled.
