Investigators say student killed by police outside Wisconsin school had pointed pellet rifle

MOUNT HOREB, Wis. (AP) — A student who was killed by police outside a Wisconsin school pointed a pellet rifle at officers and had refused to drop the weapon, authorities said Saturday.

The state Department of Justice released few other details, three days after the shooting at Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Madison, the Wisconsin capital.

The student, whose name and age still have not been officially released, did not get into the school. No one else was physically injured, but the school was on lockdown for hours during the incident Wednesday.

Police were called around 11 a.m. that day after a caller said someone with a backpack and long gun was moving toward the school.

“Officers directed the subject to drop the weapon, but the subject did not comply,” the Department of Justice said Saturday. “The subject pointed the weapon at the officers, after which law enforcement discharged their firearms, striking the subject. Lifesaving measures were deployed but the subject died on scene.”

The weapon was described as a Ruger .177-caliber pellet rifle. The state said police at the scene were wearing body cameras.

Schools in the Mount Horeb district did not hold classes Thursday or Friday.

Bystanders watch as law enforcement personnel respond to the report of a person armed with a rifle at Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The school district said a person it described as an active shooter was outside a middle school in Mount Horeb on Wednesday but the threat was “neutralized” and no one inside the building was injured. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Law enforcement personnel respond to a report of a person armed with a rifle at Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The school district said a person it described as an active shooter was outside a middle school in Mount Horeb on Wednesday but the threat was “neutralized” and no one inside the building was injured. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

People gather at a site designated for parent and student reunifications following a report of a armed person outside Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

People wait for their children outside the Mount Horeb School District bus station in Mount Horeb, Wis., where students were taken after an active shooter situation at the middle school, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Authorities said without giving details that the “alleged assailant” was harmed, and a witness said she had heard gunshots and saw dozens of children running. (AP Photo/Todd Richmond)

Law enforcement personnel respond to a report of a person armed with a rifle at Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The school district said a person it described as an active shooter was outside a middle school in Mount Horeb on Wednesday but the threat was “neutralized” and no one inside the building was injured. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities closed down Munich airport temporarily on Saturday after six climate activists broke through a security fence and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, officials and local media reported.

The activists from the group Last Generation were protesting flying, the most polluting form of transportation, said the German news agency dpa.

Police have detained the six.

Incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, an airport spokesperson said. After a couple of hours, the airport's two runways were reopened though some disruptions to flight schedules may happen, a statement on the airport’s official website said.

Last Generation posted on social media platform X, accusing the German government of “downplaying” the negative effects of flying on the environment instead of “finally acting sincerely.”

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser slammed the protests and called for them to stop. “Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger,” she wrote on X.

Fraser also applauded police efforts to bring order back to the airport and called for airport safety measures to be checked.

The general manager of the German Airports Association Ralph Beisel sharply criticized the climate activists’ actions.

“Trespassing the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday,” he told dpa.

Beisel also called for harsher penalties for activists who break into airports.

Climate activities blocked flights at Hamburg and Duesseldorf airports for several hours in July.

In January, Last Generation — known for gluing themselves to streets to block traffic which has infuriated many Germans — said it would abandon the tactic and move on to holding what it calls “disobedient assemblies.” Their actions have been widely criticized, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz described them as “completely nutty.”

Climate activists lie on a access road for runways at the Munich airport, Germany, Saturday, May 18, 2024. German officials and local media reported say authorities closed down Munich airport temporarily after six climate activists broke through a security fence and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways. The activists from the group Last Generation were protesting flying, the most polluting form of transportation, said the German news agency dpa on Saturday. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)