A teacher at Roosevelt elementary school is being called a hero by hundreds of people on social media tonight. Keith Lowry, a 4th/5th grade teacher, confronted a 13-year-old Mahone Middle School Student who once attended Roosevelt School, at approximately 9:02 a.m. this morning.

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The 13-year-old tried to enter the school through multiple locked doors before he entered a secured entryway, wearing a black backpack and holding a large black duffel bag. The suspect was intercepted by Lowry. Lowry questioned the suspect and it made the suspect “question his choices.” The suspect got nervous, started fidgeting more, turned around and left. He then fled on foot to a nearby neighborhood. Kenosha Police Department saturated the area and immediately began investigating the incident.

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“As the investigation began to unfold, we requested the assistance from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department. Our social media team in tandem with Kenosha Unified, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department posted the photo of the suspect and we immediately asked for the community’s help. We received numerous tips regarding the identity and location of the person depicted in the photo. Some of those tips guided our investigation and led to the arrest of a 13-year-old Mahone Middle School Student,” said Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton at a press conference today.

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“Upon verification of the suspect’s location, officers were able to successfully convince the suspect to surrender. This arrest occurred in the 6700 block of 30th Avenue. We can confirm that we received at least one video depicting the suspect holding what we believe is a firearm. We also have information that the suspect performed multiple internet searches related to school shootings prior to the incident,” Patton continued.

Immediately after Patton spoke he left and was heard telling another police officer that he was “going to the hospital to check on his partner.”

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“The video [shows] the suspect walking with what we believe to be a rifle. He manipulates the rifle and appears practicing room entry techniques. It was this video coupled with some of the aforementioned information we had today that drove our massive response by law enforcement and drove our decision to hold all KUSD students in class. I also want to clear up some of the things that we had mentioned earlier – that while investigating the incident at Roosevelt School, we did respond to Gateway Technical College at 3520 30th Avenue for the report of an active shooter inside that college. There were multiple tactical units on the campus within a short period of time. Upon further investigation, we found that this call was not credible.

It was actually a gateway student sharing our media release to a family member who misinterpreted the message during our response to Gateway Technical College under the belief that there was an active shooter also inside there. One of our officers was involved in a single car accident at 30th Avenue and Washington Road, this officer sustained injuries and was transported to a local hospital. His condition is currently stable and recovering.”

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“I just want to reiterate the Chief’s comments today. If you or your children receive any type of information, something that seems out of sorts, like the video like you just witnessed, see something, say something. All of our children have heard that in their school, said Sheriff David Zoerner. “We all train. We’ve trained this response together for years. Please reach out to your children. If you hear of something, if you see something, say something to a teacher or school administrator. We need that information as soon as possible, and I promise you my agency, their agencies will react and we will follow up on [it]. I want to thank these agencies for their quick responses today, and I really appreciate the efforts of everybody.”

Sheriff Zoerner told KCE that the Sheriff’s Office, Kenosha Police Department, and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department had law enforcements officers at every school following the notification. Zoerner authorized an “all call” that orders all off-duty Deputy Sheriffs to respond immediately to a special duty. All Sheriff’s Deputies not on duty were ordered to respond from their homes to secure the schools. “It’s an unusual occurrence, but the seriousness of this situation, with a potentially armed subject targeting children, made the decision absolutely imperative. Our Sheriff’s Deputies having department-issued squad cars make this type of response possible and is invaluable to public safety,” said Sheriff Zoerner.

Kenosha Public Information Officer, Lieutenant Josh Hecker, spoke informally with the media after the press conference today and told reporters that we can expect more transparency from KPD under his watch as PIO and under Chief Patton. “We want to be more transparent. You will see this [tranaparency] more,” said Hecker.