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The Latest: Officer, 3 others killed in Wisconsin shootings

Mar 22, 2017 | 7:45 PM

WESTON, Wis. — The Latest on a string of shootings in northern Wisconsin that killed a police officer and three others and prompted local schools and a hospital to go on lockdown (all times local):

8:20 p.m.

Police in northern Wisconsin say an officer and three other people were killed in what apparently began as a domestic dispute in a bank.

Everest Metro Police Chief Wally Sparks said the slain officer was from his department. Sparks did not release the officer’s name. The names of the other three dead also were not released.

Sparks said a suspect was in custody.

The violence in the small town of Rothschild began shortly after noon on Wednesday, after police were summoned to what they called a “domestic situation” at Marathon Savings Bank.

They say they arrived to find two people with gunshot wounds and the suspect gone. Authorities say a second shooting happened soon after at a law firm and a third at an apartment complex.

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7:10 p.m.

A witness to the shooting of a police officer in northern Wisconsin says he was hit moments after arriving at an apartment complex in pursuit of a suspect in a string of shootings.

Kelly Hanson says she looked out her apartment window in the small town of Weston about 1:15 p.m. to see a squad car approach, and a few seconds later heard a gunshot and saw the officer fall. She says other officers then drove in with an armoured vehicle to retrieve him.

Authorities haven’t released information on the officer’s condition.

Hanson says she stayed in her apartment all afternoon until hearing a volley of about 10 shots. Police haven’t said what happened with the suspect, but Hanson says she was finally allowed to leave her apartment in early evening.

Police say the shootings began at a bank in nearby Rothschild around midday and included one at a law firm before the violence at the apartment complex.

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5:45 p.m.

Gunshots have been heard at an apartment complex in northern Wisconsin where a suspect was holed up after a shooting that wounded at least two people other than the police officer.

WSAW-TV reports about a dozen gunshots were heard about 5 p.m. Wednesday. The station reported an ambulance went by after police said they were trying to engage the suspect.

Wausau Police Capt. Todd Baeten said earlier that a police officer was among the victims but would not give details on the officer’s injuries.

The shootings began at a bank in Rothschild where officers responding to a domestic situation arrived to find two people had been shot.

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5:10 p.m.

Police in Wisconsin say an officer is among the victims in a shooting in the small town of Rothschild.

Wausau Police Capt. Todd Baeten would not give details on the officer’s injuries. But he said authorities were in contact with the suspect at an apartment complex and were trying to engage him. He gave no other details.

Authorities say the shooting began at Marathon Savings Bank about 12:30 p.m. They say officers were responding to a reported domestic situation and arrived to find two people had been shot.

Authorities say two shootings happened later at a law firm and at the apartment complex in nearby where the suspect was being sought.

The area is about 90 miles west of Green Bay.

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4:45 p.m.

Police in a small northern Wisconsin town say they were responding to a “domestic situation” at a bank when they arrived to find two people with gunshot wounds.

Police Chief Jeremy Hunt says officers were called to Marathon Savings Bank in Rothschild about 12:30 p.m. He said the suspect was gone when officers arrived.

Authorities say two shootings happened later at a law firm and an apartment in nearby Weston. The area is about 90 miles west of Green Bay.

Schools in the D.C. Everest School District were put on lockdown, but the district posted on Facebook that the lockdown was lifted for all but two schools.

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This version of the story corrects that police now say the apartment building is in Weston, not Schofield.

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4:10 p.m.

A SWAT team and other police officers are outside an apartment in northern Wisconsin as police investigate shootings at three locations.

Wausau Police Capt. Todd Baeten says the shootings happened Wednesday at a bank in Rothschild and then a law firm and the apartment where authorities remained on the scene mid-afternoon in nearby Schofield. The area is about 90 miles west of Green Bay.

Early police reports indicated two people were shot and critically injured, but Baeten wouldn’t confirm the injuries later Wednesday. He says the shootings involved “multiple scenes” and many law officers.

Dozens of police cars and emergency vehicles were responding after the shooting was reported in Rothschild. Wausau police say the situation is active and have asked residents to avoid the area.

Schools in the D.C. Everest School District are on lockdown, as is Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

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2:55 p.m.

SWAT teams have entered an apartment building after a shooting critically injured two people in northern Wisconsin and prompted schools and a hospital to go on lockdown.

Police have marked off an area around Marathon Savings Bank in Rothschild, though a police officer told USA Today Network-Wisconsin (http://wdhne.ws/2o5KDq2 ) the incident was “not a bank robbery.”

Dozens of police cars and emergency vehicles were responding after the shooting was reported Wednesday afternoon in Rothschild, about 90 miles west of Green Bay. Wausau police posted a link on social media saying the situation was still active and asked residents to avoid the area.

An officer on the scene confirmed shots were fired. Other information wasn’t immediately available.

Schools in the D.C. Everest School District are on lockdown, as is Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

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2:40 p.m.

Authorities say a shooting has critically injured two people in northern Wisconsin, and area schools and a hospital are on lockdown.

Dozens of police cars and emergency vehicles were responding after the shooting was reported Wednesday afternoon in Rothschild. The Wausau Police Department posted a link on social media saying the situation was still active and asked residents to avoid the area.

An officer on the scene confirmed to USA Today Network-Wisconsin (http://wdhne.ws/2o5KDq2 ) that shots were fired. Other information wasn’t immediately available.

Police have marked off an area around Marathon Savings Bank in Rothschild. Schools in the D.C. Everest School District are on lockdown, as is Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

The Associated Press