Praise for prom shooting response

Officials praised the quick actions of police and district staff to stop an 18-year-old gunman, saying they averted what could have been a much worse attack on a high school prom in Wisconsin.

Two students were injured when the gunman — identified by police as Jakob E. Wagner — fired a rifle on them as they left Antigo High School on Saturday night.

A police officer already at the scene fatally shot Wagner in the parking lot.

Investigators have not discussed a possible motive or said whether they believe the students were specifically targeted.

But a school administrator said it appeared Wagner intended to go into the dance and start shooting randomly.

“We have no reason to believe at this point it was targeting anybody specifically,” interim district administrator Donald B. Childs said, adding that the shooting at the entrance happened “from some distance.”

In a statement, the Unified School District of Antigo said Wagner approached the school with a high-powered rifle and a large ammunition clip.

The district said the “quick actions” taken by police and district staff to secure the building “prevented what might have otherwise been a disaster of unimaginable proportions.”