WI · Mount Horeb Middle School, 900 E Garfield St, Mount Horeb, WI 53572 · May 1, 2024
He Makes Molotov Cocktails, Then Walks to the Middle School
A 14-year-old set off a firework outside Mount Horeb Middle School, then battered the locked cafeteria doors with a black rifle while the eighth grade sat at lunch. This documentary reconstructs the police bodycam footage, school cameras, and 911 calls from the four minutes before Mount Horeb police met him in the front lot - and the investigation that explained why he came.
Reconstructed timeline
Times from synchronized camera clocks and dispatch records.
11:11 AM
First 911 calls: armed male near the school
Multiple callers report a male (possibly a teenager) with a rifle/long gun and a backpack near Mount Horeb Middle School; some report hearing gunfire and students running. Time approximate ('at or around 11:11 AM CDT') per DCI report 24-2990/93.
11:12 AM
Subject seen at the softball fields with backpack and long gun
School camera '1-Softball Fields' (first visual, original export filename timestamped 20240501_111246) shows the subject walking past the fields carrying a backpack; other cameras show him carrying a black long gun.
Subject sets off a firework, then runs with the long gun
School camera '8th Grade Ramp' shows the subject setting off a smoking/exploding device (consistent with a lit firework), then running across the sidewalk carrying the long gun, with smoke coming from his pants. No exact wall time; media-relative on the clip.
Subject strikes cafeteria doors/windows and waves at students
Per DCI report 24-2990/93 para 22, the subject used the butt of the long gun to hit the cafeteria glass door and windows from outside and waved to get the attention of students eating lunch; students saw him and fled in panic. Cafeteria-door and main-entrance cameras cover exterior movement at the…
11:14 AM
Subject in the front lot as officers approach (engagement camera)
School camera '4-Front Lot Entrance' (original export filename '..._20240501_111440 (Approach and Engagement)') and the two 'Drive Thru' cameras show the subject walking/running through the front lot carrying the long gun as officers converge. The camera-start wall time is the export filename; the…
Officers arrive by squad and deploy rifles
Squad 17 and Squad 18 dashcams and both BWCs show officers driving in under active-shooter radio traffic, stopping at the school perimeter and exiting with patrol rifles. No trusted shared wall clock; times are media-relative per camera (e.g. Squad 17 ~180s, Stoddard BWC ~0-60s, Stephens BWC…
Officers shout 'Drop it! / Drop the rifle!'
On Stoddard's BWC officers repeatedly command 'Drop it!' and 'Drop the rifle!' immediately before firing (media ~01:38-02:19). Per news accounts the subject pointed the (pellet) rifle at an officer; the exact motion is not clearly resolvable in the read scene notes and should be confirmed from the…
Officers open fire; subject struck
Three MHPD officers (Stephens, Stoddard, Rosemeyer) fired patrol rifles. Shots are audible on both BWCs (Stoddard BWC scene ~60-162s with 'shots fired' radio at media 01:57; Stephens BWC scene ~118-180s). Multiple .223 cartridge casings were recovered around the squads. Approximate wall time is…
'Subject is down' - officers report and hold
Radio traffic and both BWCs report the subject down and officers okay (Stephens BWC media 03:50 '65-02, the subject is down. Officers are okay'; Stoddard BWC 'subject down' / 'subject no longer moving'). Officers hold cover, watch for a possible second subject, and coordinate EMS/MedFlight.
Approach with shield; subject secured and rifle recovered
Officers advance (one with a ballistic shield, Stoddard BWC ~356s) to the downed subject near a patrol SUV, secure him and remove the long gun. Radio: 'rifle is removed from suspect' / 'rifle recovered' (Stoddard BWC media ~07:37-07:53).
Backpack rendered safe; scene processed
Dane County Sheriff's Office HDU x-rayed and rendered safe the subject's backpack: commercial fireworks/mortars, 6000-count BB container, spent casings, a Molotov cocktail and a small container of uranium/radium ore (tested safe). Crime lab (WSCL M24-1181) and DCI photographed and collected…
Car crash at a residence and recovered bedroom notes
Investigators learned the subject crashed a car into a residence before walking to the school; a consensual search of his bedroom found a wall message ('To the officer that has to shoot me: I'm sorry, its not your fault...') and notes referencing Molotov cocktails and a note to his mother.
9:20 AM
Autopsy and weapon identified as a pellet rifle
Autopsy of the subject conducted May 2, 2024 at the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office (approx 9:20am-4:20pm). The recovered long gun was identified as a Ruger .177 caliber pellet rifle, all black with no orange safety markers, its overall appearance consistent with an actual rifle.
DA Ozanne clears the officers (August 2024)
In August 2024 Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announced no charges against MHPD officers Tyler Stephens, Carson Stoddard and Steve Rosemeyer, finding their use of deadly force legally justified. Investigators also reported the subject had planned for months to target the school.
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