(UnitedVoice.com) – Wisconsin police have prevented a potential mass murder by shooting the teenage suspect dead. Officers responded to a report of an armed individual outside a middle school, and were able to intercept him. Apart from the suspect, nobody was injured in the incident.

On May 1, police in Mount Horeb, a community around 20 miles west of Madison, Wisconsin, received a report of an armed individual outside the community’s middle school. When they responded, they encountered the individual and used “deadly force” to end the threat, killing the suspect. Mount Horeb Police Chief Doug Vierck said his officers had been faced with a deadly threat, and had responded in kind. The suspect was later identified as a Mount Horeb Area School District student.

Mount Horeb Police Chief Doug Vierck posted a message on social media after the shooting, confirming that “The threat has been neutralized” and adding that police were at the school checking the safety of students. Officials said the district’s schools had been put on lockdown after the incident.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said students and parents were being reunified and that process would continue through Wednesday evening; all students were home by 8 p.m. The district’s schools were closed on Thursday, but Kaul said he hoped they would reopen on Friday. He refused to release any further details of the suspect beyond the fact he was male and a minor. He added, “This could have been a far worse tragedy.”

The Wisconsin Department of Justice says it will mount a “thorough” investigation of the shooting. So far, it isn’t clear if the assailant fired his weapon at police before being shot, but apparently, three officers were involved, and all were wearing body cameras. Now, the school district is focused on recovering from the narrowly avoided tragedy and moving on.

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