KENOSHA, Wis. — Schools in the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) were under a secure hold Thursday after a suspicious person attempted to enter Roosevelt Elementary School.

The Kenosha Police Department (KPD) said the person tried to enter the school around 9 a.m. and was holding a suspicious bag.

KUSD superintendent Jeffrey Weiss said the suspect initially tried to enter the building via other doors, but they were locked. That's when the suspect went to the "secured entry" he said. 

"There's multiple exterior doors, and we've spend a lot of time and a lot of work to make sure they are all locked and secured," Weiss said. "So this individual came around to the front door, buzzed the office to be let in. And there are two doors ... The first one opens up into a vestibule; the second one prevents entry into the rest of the school..."

School staff met and questioned the individual, who then fled the building on foot. The suspect ran into a nearby neighborhood, per police.

"I can't stress how important and really how heroic our office staff was, and that time they probably didn't realize it. It's what they do every day: They confront. They check to make sure everybody's safe," Weiss said. 

Police immediately began investigating the incident and searching for the suspect. Multiple law enforcement agencies assisted.

KPD said officers arrested a 13-year-old KUSD student in his home on Thursday afternoon, who they have reason to believe was responsible for the incident. KPD said they were able to convince the suspect to surrender. He is still in police custody. No one else has been arrested in relation to the incident as of Friday morning. 

Police said no one was injured as a result of the incident or the arrest. 

Police and school officials confirmed the suspect is a student at Mahone Middle School, who previously attended Roosevelt Elementary School. They have not released his name. 

Police said law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the teen’s home. During the search, they found multiple air soft replica handguns and a replica rifle. Police said they did not find any real firearms during their search.

Police said the teen’s mom has cooperated with the investigation and told police that her son does not have access to firearms.

Police said the suspect told detectives he was at the elementary school to sell candy. Police said the suspect later told a social worker he wanted to scare students at the elementary school. 

“Yesterday’s response was driven by the information we gathered throughout the initial investigation. The Kenosha Police Department had reason to believe the suspect had access to some type of firearm based on videos on social media and other witness information. The actions on scene were extremely suspicious and the internet activity by the suspect suggested they had extensive research history related to previous school shootings, information on how to execute a school shooting, and specifics about the targeted building. These are all concerns that resulted in our decision to safeguard all schools within the entire county until we could confirmed that there was no further threat,” KPD explained, in-part, in a statement released Friday. 

KPD said it received a video of the suspect, holding, what police believe to be, a firearm. KPD said the suspect has conducted multiple web searches on school shootings prior to the incident.

KPD also said it obtained a video where the suspect appears to be practicing “room entrance techniques” while holding a rifle.

KPD said the student had previously made comments and shared videos to other students in the weeks leading up to Thursday’s incident. KPD did not specify or detail those comments or videos.

"We narrowly missed a tragedy today," Patrick Patton, KPD police chief, said.

Officials encouraged the community to share any information they may know to police. Patton said there were many "red flags" surrounding the suspected that could have been reported earlier. Information can be submitted directly to police or anonymously via Crime Stoppers.

"These videos shouldn't have been seen by us today. They should have been reported to us earlier," he said. 

Kenosha County Sherrif’s Office (KCSO) reiterated that message.

“If you see something, say something,” KCSO Sheriff David Zoerner said. 

The 13-year-old suspect has been charged with one count of terroristic threats, according to police. He was scheduled to make a court appearance late Friday morning. 

The investigation is active and ongoing.