Updated on
Summary
The hostage drama at a Wisconson high school has ended without anyone being hurt. Earlier, a student armed with a handgun burst into a Wisconsin high school and held 23 students and a female teacher hostage for more than five hours. According to media reports, a high school administrator called authorities around 3 pm notifying them of a student taking hostages in a classroom. Nearly 100 police officers surrounded the area. Authorities mediated with the gunman through the female teacher and finally won the release of the hostages. All the hostages were released not too long after five of the 23 hostages were released from a Marinette, Wisconsin high school classroom, but 18 students and a teacher remained for a period of time with the gunman. We know nothing about what the student wants, Marinette Police Chief Jeff Skorik said during a short press conference. Authorities are reluctant to release information about the student or those in the classroom, he said. The incident started during the school day, the chief said, but the exact time is unclear. Investigators have interviewed the parents of the hostage-taker, but they do not have answers on why he took hostages, he said. The city of Marinette is located 50 miles north of Green Bay and has a population of about 11,700. Marinette County has a population of about 44,000 people and typically has low levels of violent crime, according to the state Office of Justice Assistance. Marinette County recorded 29 violent crimes in 2009, up from 21 the previous year, 32 in 2007 and 21 in 2006. While the number of incidents overall is low, Marinette County was the location of high-profile murder in 2007 of a Hmong man at the hands of a fellow hunter. Marinette County had 69 violent crimes per 100,000 people in2009, compared with Brown County's 227 crimes per 100,000.
