Wisconsin middle school shooting: Suspect identified as 14-year-old who stormed school with a rifle before being shot dead

A 14-year-old boy has been shot dead by police as he approached a middle school brandishing a rifle.

The intruder, who has not been named, was gunned down ]Wednesday morning while trying to enter Mount Horeb Area Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.

Parents described children hiding in closets, afraid to communicate on phones, and one middle schooler said his class initially fled the school gym on in-line skates.

Schoolchildren and nearby residents and businesses said they heard about five gunshots, presumably when police opened fire.

After hours of terror, school district superintendent Steve Salerno said the 'gunman' did not breach the entry gates before he was killed by responding police.

The Mount Horeb Area School District has been put on lockdown after an active shooter entered a middle school on Wednesday

Mount Horeb Area School District first alerted parents to the shooter in a text message sometime before 11am.

'They are armed with a rifle and should be considered dangerous. For your safety stay inside, lock all doors, and avoid the area until further notice,' it said.

The district then posted on Facebook about 11.30am, after the gunman had already been shot at least 15 minutes earlier.

Police 'scoped out' the campus and bomb squad checked a car connected to the gunman as the school was locked down from 11.16am until about 12pm.

'An initial search of the middle school has not yielded additional suspects,' the district said after it received the all-clear.

'As importantly, we have no reports of individuals being harmed, with the exception of the alleged assailant.

'You would be so proud of our students and staff, and we're so grateful for our first responders.'

A big police presence was seen outside the middle school after the suspect was neutralized

No injuries have been reported inside the middle school in Mount Horeb, which is about a half-hour drive from Madison.

'Our students will remain in hard lockdown throughout all of our buildings. Law enforcement is circulating throughout the middle school to confirm the safety of all students,' the district wrote on Facebook.

'Again, do not report to any of our schools at this time. Once we confirm the safety of all we will begin the process of reunification offsite with families.'

A big police presence was seen outside the middle school as officers made sure the building was safe.

Some middle schoolers were evacuated as the active shooter situation unfolded, but most of their classmates are still inside.

Only students from the adjoining elementary school had been released by 5pm as school officials waited for police to finish investigating.

'We are working to continue to ensure children are safe, comfortable, and fed,' the school district wrote.

Officials have asked people to stay away from the middle school

School buses remained lined up for blocks outside and authorities had used police tape to surround the middle school, the nearby high school and playing fields between the two buildings.

Jeanne Keller said she heard about five gunshots while in her shop The Quilting Jeanne, just down the block from the campus that includes the middle school.

'It was maybe like pow-pow-pow-pow,' Keller told The Associated Press by phone. 'I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the children running... I probably saw 200 children.'

One middle schooler said his class was in the school gym practicing in-line skating when they heard gunshots.

Max Kelly, 12, said his teacher told the class to get out of the school. He said they skated to a street, ditched their in-line skates and ran to a nearby convenience store and gas station and hid in a bathroom.

Kelly was reunited with his parents and sat on a hillside with them early Wednesday afternoon waiting for his younger siblings to be released from their own schools. He still wore socks, his shoes left behind.

'I don't think anywhere is safe anymore,' said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.

People gather at a site designated for parent and student reunifications following a report of a armed person outside Mount Horeb Middle School

Shannon Hurd, 44, and her former husband, Nathian Hurd, 39, sat in a car waiting for their 13-year-old son, Noah, who was still in the locked-down middle school.

Shannon Hurd said she first heard what happened via a text from Noah saying he loved her. She said she nearly fell down the stairs at her work as she ran to get to the school.

'I just want my kid,' she said. 'They're supposed to be safe at school.'

Stacy Smith, 42, was at the bank Wednesday when she saw police cars rush by and soon got a school district text warning of an active shooter.

She initially could not reach her two children — junior Abbi and seventh-grader Cole. Finally, she reached Abbi by phone but the girl whispered that she was hiding in a closet and couldn't talk. She eventually connected with both children and learned they were OK.

'Not here,' she said in disbelief. 'You hear about this everywhere else but not here.'