UPDATE: Beaver Dam Schools closed after gun and explosive threat

BEAVER DAM, WI -

All schools are closed and activities were canceled Friday in the Beaver Dam Unified School District due to the investigation into a “safety issue.”

At 1:56 AM the assistant principal for Beaver Dam High School opened an email that made specific threats against the school. According to police, those threats including claims of guns as well as explosives. 

Police have interviewed two local high school students involved with the threats. Authorities are looking for a third high school suspect who lives out of the state. That third student has not been attending school recently. All three students communicated using Skype.

Beaver Dam Superintendent Steve Vessey was visibly frustrated at Friday's press conference and said that he would do, "everything in his power to make sure [the students who made the threats] do not walk back into school."

The threat specifically mentioned Beaver Dam High School and the school district decided to close the rest of the schools for protection.

School and activities will only reopen once police and school officials are certain the threat is contained. Officials said that could be as early as Saturday morning or as late as next week. 

Police will have a presence at schools in Beaver Dam whenever they choose to reopen. Friday's closure counts as an "emergency day" that the district has built into their calendar.

Parents in the district received an auto call announcing the closure. CBS 58 has obtained a copy of the text of that call from Superintendent Stephen Vessey.

“All public schools in the Beaver Dam Unified School District will be closed on Friday, May 5.  All school related events and activities are canceled today. All offsite advanced placement testing for Beaver Dam High School students is canceled.  The school closures are a result of a safety issue we are currently working through in partnership with the Beaver Dam Police Department. We believe we are close to resolving the issue, however in the interest of protecting our students, staff and community, we will not be holding school on Friday.  Specific information will be sent to parents and the community by 1:00 on Friday, May 5.  We are asking for your help and support as we work with the Beaver Dam Police Department to resolve this very frustrating issue.”

Share this article: