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Gun Threat Prompts Southwest Technical College To Close
Fennimore Police Say They've Identified Person Who Made Threat
UPDATED: 7:34 am CDT May 8,
2008
FENNIMORE, Wis. -- An apparent gun threat prompted school officials at Southwest Technical College in Fennimore to close its campus on Wednesday.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportSchool officials and law enforcement made the decision to lie to students and staff, telling them that a water main was broken, which wasn't the case. In fact, someone apparently made a shooting threat.A student passed on information that he or she received a call on a cell phone that someone was bringing a gun to campus. School officials said that they then contacted Fennimore police and opted to close the campus, including night classes, citing safety concerns.Most of the students on the campus of about 2,000 weren't on campus Wednesday morning when the threat came in, but the manner in which students were told of the college's closing will be the subject of review."(Officials) said all students and faculty on campus now should leave now because of a mechanical problem," said Brett Speth, a senior at the college.But Speth said he and his classmates seemed to known that something else was up."Some of us heard that it was a water main break. Some heard it was a maintenance problem. Some heard it was a bomb threat. There were a lot of stories going around," Speth said.Southwest Wisconsin Technical College President Karen Knox said Fennimore police advised that college officials not say that a gun threat had been made."The reason we thought about doing that this morning is there were very few people on campus. It was before the campus was full. We've talked about the fact that if we had a campus full of students, we probably would have used different language," Knox said.According to college officials, police said that they felt the ruse was necessary to avert panic and to help apprehend the person who made the threat.Fennimore Police Chief Richard Kreul said the officer's decision will be reviewed and the college will look at their response on Thursday."I can't necessarily say we'll do the same thing in the future. I wasn't there personally to make the call. The officer did what he thought was in his best judgment the best way to handle the situation," Kreul said.Speth said that what will make him feel better now is action."(Authorities should) apprehend the suspect and also take other security precautions," he said.Fennimore police said they have identified the person who made the threat, but they do not have anyone in custody.The college will convene its leadership team at 10 a.m. Thursday to discuss the incident.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportSchool officials and law enforcement made the decision to lie to students and staff, telling them that a water main was broken, which wasn't the case. In fact, someone apparently made a shooting threat.A student passed on information that he or she received a call on a cell phone that someone was bringing a gun to campus. School officials said that they then contacted Fennimore police and opted to close the campus, including night classes, citing safety concerns.Most of the students on the campus of about 2,000 weren't on campus Wednesday morning when the threat came in, but the manner in which students were told of the college's closing will be the subject of review."(Officials) said all students and faculty on campus now should leave now because of a mechanical problem," said Brett Speth, a senior at the college.But Speth said he and his classmates seemed to known that something else was up."Some of us heard that it was a water main break. Some heard it was a maintenance problem. Some heard it was a bomb threat. There were a lot of stories going around," Speth said.Southwest Wisconsin Technical College President Karen Knox said Fennimore police advised that college officials not say that a gun threat had been made."The reason we thought about doing that this morning is there were very few people on campus. It was before the campus was full. We've talked about the fact that if we had a campus full of students, we probably would have used different language," Knox said.According to college officials, police said that they felt the ruse was necessary to avert panic and to help apprehend the person who made the threat.Fennimore Police Chief Richard Kreul said the officer's decision will be reviewed and the college will look at their response on Thursday."I can't necessarily say we'll do the same thing in the future. I wasn't there personally to make the call. The officer did what he thought was in his best judgment the best way to handle the situation," Kreul said.Speth said that what will make him feel better now is action."(Authorities should) apprehend the suspect and also take other security precautions," he said.Fennimore police said they have identified the person who made the threat, but they do not have anyone in custody.The college will convene its leadership team at 10 a.m. Thursday to discuss the incident. Copyright 2008 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
