Kenosha student to be charged with terroristic threats after attempting to enter school

A 13-year-old Kenosha Unified School District student will be charged with one count of terroristic threats after allegedly trying to enter an elementary school with a suspicious backpack on Thursday. 

The teen made his initial appearance in Kenosha County Juvenile Court on Friday afternoon.

Detectives searched his home Thursday afternoon and found “several air soft replica handguns and a replica rifle,” according to Kenosha police.

“No real firearms were located during the search,” said Lt. Joshua Hecker. “The suspect’s mother was cooperative during the course of our investigation and advised that the suspect does not have access to firearms.”

No other arrests have been made in connection with the investigation. 

According to police, the teen arrived at Roosevelt Elementary School at approximately 9 a.m. carrying suspicious bags. When school staff met him and questioned him in the secured entryway, he fled. 

During an interview with the teen, he told detectives his plan was to go to the school to sell candy, Hecker said. 

The boy later told a social worker that he went to Roosevelt Elementary with the intent to scare students. 

“While yesterday’s incident did not result in unimaginable tragedy, it still had a powerful effect on many of us,” Hecker said. “As we try to process everything, we are encouraging everyone to have conversations with their children and talk about the importance of reporting suspicious activity.”

‘This is something that should have been known’

During a press conference Thursday, Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said an initial investigation showed that the teen shared video and made comments to other students for weeks leading up to the incident.

“Through the initial investigation, we know that this is something that should have been known,” Patton said. “This is something that had been told to people. We know that there were internet searches. And all the red flags were there. We narrowly missed a tragedy today.”

Trish Kilpin, the director of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety, said she does not know if anyone from Kenosha Unified School District called in a potential threat because the teen’s name has not been released.

But, since its launch in September 2020, the office has had more than 300 reports of potential school attacks, including 84 reports last year.

“We also receive many other tips about a variety of issues. Some of them are often precursors to somebody thinking about school violence,” Kilpin said.

Next week, the office will release its 2024 annual report. It will show that from Sept. 2023 through Aug. 2024, there were 5,000 calls to the tip line. That’s a 40 percent increase over the previous school year, Kilpin said.

Kilpin said her office works closely with Kenosha Unified School District on school safety, including on its threat assessment coalition and crisis response.

“We have supported Kenosha since the incident yesterday, in terms of helping to to understand the research and how to help support kids and parents who need reassurance,” Kilpin said. “I’m so grateful that nothing happened in terms of, nobody was physically harmed. But there was a psychological impact to the school community, and we have to recognize that and support that district.”