Mount Horeb Middle School Community Reeling After Active Shooter Incident

Students and staff at Mount Horeb Middle School are safe after an active shooter was reported outside the school at around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The individual did not “breach entry” to the school and was “neutralized,” according to officials.

Students and parents were shaken by the experience.

Charity McCarthy was at the Mount Horeb Intermediate Center with her son, Max, 13, an eighth-grader. They were waiting to pick up McCarthy’s third-grader and two high school seniors, who were still on lockdown.

Max was in the middle school when he heard a teacher yell “run.” He and several other students fled the school through a back door and sought refuge at a home nearby.

He said he’d had training at school to hide if an intruder came in.

He ran out of the back of the school during the shooting incident, McCarthy said. So he and a number of other kids found a neighbor and hid in the neighbor’s basement.

She said the neighbor called the kids’ parents, and she was able to pick up Max.

Middle School students and staff remain on lockdown, but are now being allowed to leave their classrooms with an escort.

An initial search of the middle school has not yielded additional suspects, according to the district Facebook page. As importantly, we have no reports of individuals being harmed, with the exception of the alleged assailant.

Police have not identified the gunman. Students and family members said it was a fellow student.

Jeanne Keller said she heard about five gunshots while in her shop The Quilting Jeanne, just down the block from the campus that includes the middle school.

It was maybe like pow-pow-pow-pow, Keller told The Associated Press by phone. I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the children running … I probably saw 200 children.

One middle schooler said his class was in the school gym practicing in-line skating when they heard gunshots.

Max Kelly, 12, said his teacher told the class to get out of the school. He said they skated to a street, ditched their in-line skates, and ran to a nearby convenience store and gas station and hid in a bathroom.

Kelly was reunited with his parents and sat on a hillside with them early Wednesday afternoon waiting for his younger siblings to be released from their own schools. He still wore socks, his shoes left behind.

I don’t think anywhere is safe anymore, said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.

Mount Horeb is about 20 minutes west of Madison.

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said the incident has turned lives upside down, causing trauma and sorrow.

To the young people, their families, and educators, no words can say enough of how much we as a community are here for you and grieve with you, Parisi said in a statement. Dane County is a close-knit community. We are here for you and will continue to be. To our first responders, thank you for once again stepping forward to help in another moment of critical need. Let’s all take a moment today to hug our kids and come together to help Mount Horeb heal.

State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly released a statement regarding the shooting and lockdown earlier today in Mount Horeb.

My heart broke today with the news of the shooting and death outside of Mount Horeb Middle School. I’m sad for the great sense of anxiety and trauma caused for students, school staff, and the community, and all of us at the Department of Public Instruction stand ready to help in any way we can.

Our schools should be welcoming places for all students, and they must be safe places for all students and staff.

I want to especially thank the community’s school staff and first responders for your quick action that likely saved lives. I am so thankful for law enforcement, medical personnel, and district personnel in responding quickly and ensuring the safety of our students.

I also want to recognize how forthcoming the school district was with information, keeping the community up to date and giving confidence students were being kept safe. Thank you to Superintendent Steve Salerno and all the district’s educators and leaders.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is sharing publicly available resources for schools, educators, and families to help process and navigate this moment.