School shooter search left trauma in its wake

Gun not found in school; lockdown still terrifying

Teresa Buss came to work at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee two weeks ago and found the building barricaded.

She asked a Milwaukee police officer what was going on. He told her it was a “code red.”

“The officer said to me, ‘We have a report that students entered the building with weapons,’ “she recalled.

“The very next statement out of the officer’s mouth was, ‘Well, what do you expect when you’re going to protest guns?’ “Buss said.

The incident occurred March 14, the same day as nationwide student walkouts against gun violence prompted by a school shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead.

Buss described her experience during a town hall Wednesday about police-community relations. The discussion at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum was organized by WUWM as part of its “Project Milwaukee: To Protect and Serve” series.

Acting Assistant Chief Raymond Banks, one of the event’s panelists, apologized to Buss for “the insensitive comment that the officer made.”

That officer also should have given her more information and explained why the police took the actions they did, Banks said.

Buss said people were traumatized during the lockdown with “a SWAT team essentially that went from classroom to classroom with rifles and lasers pointed at the heads and bodies of the students and staff.”

At the time, police knew a student had a gun but were not sure if he made it into the school, Banks said. The gun ultimately was not found inside the school.

“The officers went inside the school to make sure everyone was safe,” Banks said.

“When you have that type of assignment, there’s no way to do it where it’s going to not upset people,” he said. “They have to go in with their guns.”

Buss said she understood why the police acted the way they did.

“The part that I’m saddened most by is that after it happened we were just all left to sit there,” she said.

“There was no one who came in, no one to help support, there was nothing, because there was no physical injury,” Buss said. “But I promise you there are deep emotional scars over what happened inside that building that day.”

Buss’ background is in art therapy. She said she listens to the struggles and concerns of students at “The Zen Den,” a room stocked with art supplies, books and other items where students and staff can take a break and decompress.

After the code red, she asked for the district’s crisis response team to visit the school but was told it only responds to situations involving death. On Wednesday, she asked Banks if MPD had any resources.

Banks said he had offered such services to a school district official the day of the threat.

“Part of the problem is not with the Police Department in a situation like that, it’s with the policies that you guys have,” he said. “Once we were done, they wanted us out of the building, which is what we did.”

Milwaukee Public Schools, which is on spring break this week, did not have anyone available Thursday to respond to a reporter’s questions on the matter.

Banks also drew a larger point from the conversation about the importance of officers explaining what they are doing and why.

“When things happen, we do a horrible job of explaining to people why we did what we did to make people feel a little bit better about what was going on,” he said.

The new administration, led by Interim Chief Alfonso Morales, is focusing on changing that throughout the department’s ranks, Banks said.

“It may not make everyone feel better, but at least you can give them the dignity and respect to let them know why we’re doing what we’re doing,” he said.