Police Fatally Shoot Teen Carrying Gun Outside Wisconsin School

    Police Fatally Shoot Teen Carrying Gun Outside Wisconsin School
    Image copyright: Spencer Platt/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

    The Facts

    • Officers from the Mount Horeb Police Department shot and killed a 14-year-old suspect outside a Wisconsin middle school on Wednesday, after receiving a report of an "individual with a weapon."

    • Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul told reporters that the suspect, identified as a juvenile male, failed to breach the building and had been "neutralized" outside Mount Horeb Middle School.


    The Spin

    Narrative A

    The averted school shooting in Wisconsin is yet another example of police officers making schools safer for students, further demonstrating the necessity of law enforcement. While there are deeper issues contributing to a rise in school shootings, having police officers in or nearby schools offers an immediate solution to thwart the threat of attacks.

    Narrative B

    Putting police officers in schools isn't a viable solution to preventing school shootings, and it only creates an environment of fear that isn't conducive to education. Protecting students starts with creating a welcoming and inclusive space that promotes students' well-being. The presence of law enforcement does nothing to address that need.

    Nerd narrative

    There's a 50% chance that the US murder rate will be at least 5.4 per 100K inhabitants in 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


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