ANTIGO, Wis. — Students returned to class Monday at a northern Wisconsin high school where gunfire disrupted prom night, leaving two students injured and the shooter dead.
Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker called for more discussion on how to deal with bullying in schools after several of the gunman’s friends said he had been bullied when he attended Antigo High School, where the shooting took place.
Authorities say Jakob E. Wagner, 18, was armed with a high-powered rifle and a large ammunition clip when he showed up outside the school Saturday night and shot the two students as they left the building, according to school officials. A male student and his prom date were injured.
Investigators have not discussed a possible motive or said whether they believe the students were specifically targeted. But a school administrator said it looked like Wagner intended to enter the dance and shoot randomly.
“We have no reason to believe at this point it was targeting anybody specifically,” interim district administrator Donald B. Childs told The Associated Press on Sunday. Childs didn’t respond to several phone messages Monday.
Administrators said in a statement that Wagner never entered the school and a police officer on patrol fatally shot him in the parking lot, praising him for preventing “what might have otherwise been a disaster of unimaginable proportions.”
Wagner was taken to a hospital where he died.
Walker told reporters Monday that he didn’t think the incident would lead to tighter gun controls in the state, saying the more important issues to be addressed are bullying and mental health, and that students should be taught how to resolve disagreements peacefully.
He said he hasn’t heard anyone talk about banning rifles in Wisconsin.
“If you did, you wouldn’t have hunting here,” the Republican governor said.
Dakotta Mills, who said he had known Wagner since sixth grade, told AP that he had “some rough spots now and then” and that he had witnessed him being bullied.
Mills said Wagner had graduated with him last May, but Childs told AP that Wagner had not graduated.
A former classmate, Emily Fisher, 19, told the Wausau Daily Herald that students ganged up on Wagner and called him names, in part because of poor hygiene. The bullying started in middle school, Fisher said, and continued through high school.
The male student who was wounded in the shooting was identified as Collin Cooper in a family statement issued via police. They said he was doing well after a long surgery and would recover “with time and effort.” His date, who was from out of state, was treated and released after she was grazed by a bullet, police said.
“Please continue to pray for Collin, his girlfriend, two friends, fellow classmates, and everyone else involved as they recover from this traumatic night,” the statement said. “Please also pray for the family of Jakob Wagner. As much as we are struggling through this event, we cannot imagine the grief they are experiencing at this time.”
Nikita Deep, a student at the school who attended the prom, told the Daily Herald that police officers came into the building and moved students to one corner. Students weren’t released until about 2 a.m. Sunday, three hours after the shooting.
“We heard there was a situation, but I thought it was some kind of drug bust,” Deep said. “Then they flipped the lights and then about 12 officers came in and are armored. We were all frightened.”
Wagner was interested in guns and wanted to become a hunter, Mills said, but he wasn’t sure Wagner could afford a gun. He said Mills was raised by his mother and grandparents and was still living at home.
Dylan Dewey, who graduated from Antigo High last year, said Wagner had been dating a girl at the school who broke up with him last month. He described Wagner as an “all-around good guy” who enjoyed hanging out with friends.
“For him to do that, something just isn’t right,” said Mills. “He was a good kid.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
