Hostages Released at Wisconsin High School, Student Gunman Shoots Himself — Sad Update: Student Has Died (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 30, 2010
The teacher and students who were held hostage yesterday at Marinette High School in eastern Wisconsin have been released unharmed. The 15-year-old male student who held them at gunpoint for hours has shot himself.
Officials are not releasing the name of the boy nor his condition. He has been taken to the hospital. Those who know the teen are stunned.
Associated Press: Hostages Released at Wisconsin High School
From FOX News, Hostages Released at Marinette High School:
MARINETTE, Wis. – A hostage situation is now over at Marinette High School where 23 students and a teacher had been held hostage by a 15-year-old student for more than five hours Monday.
Marinette Police Chief Jeff Skorik says the suspect, a male student, suffered a self inflicted gunshot wound.
He was originally taken to Bay Area Medical Center, but was transferred to St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. His condition is not being released at the request of his parents, according to a nursing supervisor.
Officials tell us there are no injuries to any of the students or the teacher.
Skorik says the 15-year-old had two handguns in the classroom. He says a high school administrator called authorities after 3 p.m. Monday to say an armed student had burst into a classroom.
At 7:40 p.m. five of the students were released from the room because they had to use the restroom. Skorik says the suspect agreed they could use it.
At 8:03 p.m. officers heard three gun shots, that’s when according to Skorik, officers entered the classroom and saw the suspect standing at the front of the room. Skorik says the suspect then shot himself and the rest of the hostages were evacuated.
Skorik says all students have been safely reunited with their families.
Marinette’s Superintendent Tim Baneck says the high school will be closed Tuesday and doesn’t know when it will re-open.
From My Way News, Wis. students chatted with gunman to keep him calm:
MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) – Trapped in their classroom with a student gunman, a group of terrified Wisconsin high schoolers worked desperately to keep their captor calm by chatting and laughing with him about hunting and fishing.
The 15-year-old gunman eventually shot himself as police stormed the room at Marinette High School hours later Monday evening, but his 23 hostages emerged unharmed. Student hostage Zach Campbell said the gunman seemed depressed, but he didn’t think he meant them his classmates any harm.
“I don’t know why he did that,” Campbell said. Six of his good friends were in the class, Campbell added.
Authorities also said they did not know what might have motivated the boy. Police said he fired three shots before they broke down the door, but it was unclear what he was trying to hit.
The gunman was taken to a nearby hospital. Authorities have declined to release his name and his condition was unknown early Tuesday.
The standoff began near the end of the school day, authorities said. Campbell said t
The class was watching a movie when the gunman shot the projector, then fired a second round.
He had two handguns, Campbell said, and refused to let anyone leave. He demanded everyone dump their cell phones in the center of the room. When the gunman’s own cell phone rang, the boy snapped it in half, Campbell said.
He wasn’t interested in talking with the teacher and told her to be quiet, Campbell said. But he chatted with his fellow students, who tried to keep him talking about how the gunman hunted and about fishing. Students even got the gunman to laugh, Campbell said.
The gunman refused to communicate with officials during the standoff, Police Chief Jeff Skorik said, but allowed the teacher to speak with them by phone.
Choral teacher Bonita Weydt said she was talking with a teacher in another classroom at the end of the day when Principal Corry Lambie came in.
“I said, ‘Corry, what’s going on?’ and he said, ‘Get out of the building,’” Weydt said.
Firefighters kept people away from the school. Anxious parents met throughout the evening with officials at the county courthouse.
After nearly five hours, the boy let Campbell and four other students out to use the bathroom. Police outside the classroom whisked them to safety.
About 20 minutes later, Police Chief Jeff Skorik said, officers heard three shots and broke down the door. The gunman, who was standing at the front of the classroom, shot himself as officers approached, the chief said.
Students were taken by bus to the courthouse, where they were reunited with their parents.
Keith Schroeder, a former Marinette middle school teacher, said he had the gunman as a student and also knows the boy’s teacher well. He said the teen’s family is extremely involved in all their boys’ lives.
“He’s a fine young man, and I’m totally taken aback,” Schroeder told The Associated Press. “Surprised, flabbergasted to say the least because this is a great family. It doesn’t fit any of the things or the molds that you read about people. I couldn’t say enough good things about the family.”
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UPDATE… 15-year-old student gunman, sophomore Samuel Hengel, has died in the hospital from his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Our prayers go to this boy’s family and friends, who have not only suffered from undeniable anguish and confusion about Samuel’s out-of-character, destructive behavior, but now are grappling with his senseless, premature death.
A tragedy, and every parent’s worse nightmare.
AP: Wisconsin Hostage Suspect, 15-Yer-Old Student Dies at Hospital
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