Officials Say Quick Action Prevented 'Unimaginable Disaster' After Gunman Opened Fire Outside Prom In Wisconsin
ANTIGO, Wis. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- School officials in Wisconsin say officers outside a prom where an 18-year-old opened fire, wounding two students, "prevented what might have otherwise been a disaster of unimaginable proportions."
Police already were stationed to patrol the parking lot at the high school dance in Antigo, a community about 150 miles north of Milwaukee.
The Antigo School District says the two prom-goers were shot as they left the dance late Saturday. An officer returned fire, fatally wounding the gunman.
A school administrator says he doesn't believe the gunman targeted the students who were shot. Instead, interim district administrator Donald Childs tells The Associated Press he believes the gunman planned to enter the prom and start shooting randomly.
Childs says the suspect, identified by police as Jakob E. Wagner, did not graduate with his class from Antigo High School last year and was continuing to work on his diploma.
Eighteen-year-old Dylan Dewey of Antigo told The Associated Press that Wagner had been dating a girl at the school but that she had broken up with him last month.
Dewey described Wagner as an "all-around good guy'' and said he generally seemed happy.
The school plans to have counselors available when classes resume Monday.
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