One year after a school shooting shook the small community of Mount Horeb district leaders say they’ve been following the lead of students and staff in marking the anniversary.  Police were called to Mount Horeb Middle School at about 11:30 a.m 2024 for a report of a person outside with a weapon Some students knew what was happening and ran to nearby homes Mount Horeb Police shot and killed a 14-year-old student who was pointing a gun at officers.  But the death of an eighth grader was complicated The Dane County community of just over 7,000 people lost a child we’ve each navigated our own paths,” the district said in a statement.  The Mount Horeb Area School District has worked with the Wisconsin Office of School Safety Department of Education’s School Emergency Response to Violence project and local law enforcement to process what happened Mount Horeb Superintendent Steve Salerno was unavailable for an interview this week — he is spending time with students But Salerno spoke with WPR previously about the upcoming anniversary the district looked to its students to set the tone They’ve brought in service dogs and increased law enforcement visibility “None of us has a corner on the market as to what is the proper way to grieve and then move forward,” Salerno said “We spent a lot of time with our faculty and staff hearing from them about what they needed.” Just seven months after the Mount Horeb shooting, three people died in a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison Salerno said several staff members from Mount Horeb went to Abundant Life in the days after the shooting.  our experience could help them,” Salerno said “We’re a little larger of a community than they are And we could talk about some things they might not have thought of In 2024, there were 332 shootings at K-12 schools in the United States, according to the school shooting database That was down from a 58-year high of 349 shootings in 2023 The Abundant Life shooting appears to have had ties to other incidents. A 17-year-old who carried out a shooting in a Nashville high school appears to have had online ties to the Abundant Life shooter And a Florida man accused of planning to carry out shootings also is alleged to have had an online relationship with the 15-year-old Madison shooter Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInMADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Dane County’s Victim Witness Services started making changes to its response plan after the Mount Horeb School shooting The team specifically changed what they wear to make sure they are visible and recognizable in critical incidents A closet on the third floor of the Dane County Courthouse was once empty Now more than a dozen teal vests hang in that closest The Victim Witness Services Unit incorporated the attire after helping during the May 1 “We learned an incredibly valuable lesson that day,” Julie Foley explained The lesson is to be accessible and visible for people in crisis Deputy Director Julie Foley said the team arrived at the scene wearing street clothes with their lanyards and blended in with the crowd “We did not serve them well by having them try to figure out who we were who were affiliated with what our role was in the midst of a crisis it is very difficult to communicate that information,” Foley said three people died in the Abundant Life Christian School shooting It was the first time Brooke Barcena wore her teal vest in a major incident a way for someone to come up to me and say this is what I need It is hard enough to even ask what you need but it is even harder if you don’t know who to ask,” Barcena said The unit reflects on the past year and says they are prepared if this ever happens again having our own personal go kit,” Foley said these situations never get easier for the community “There is no specific timeline on trauma and on grief it’s not linear you need to give yourself the grace to feel that,” Barcena explained “Do what you need to support yourself and those around you.” Barcena was not physically there during the Mount Horeb School shooting but worked behind the scenes She says the team learned the value of working on logistics and having a communication plan in place The unit also went around to different restaurants and stores asking for donations chicken and drinks to the victims in crisis The team told me they were able to assist Mount Horeb with the help of the Dane County community Victim Witness Unit staff are available to crime victims 24/7 Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app A Wisconsin ski hill owner was arrested Monday after police said he assaulted a teenager who did not pay for entry to the business Nathaniel McGree, the owner of Tyrol Basin in Mount Horeb, was booked on counts of disorderly conduct and physical abuse of a child, according to a Dane County Sheriff’s Office press release The arrest occurred after sheriff deputies came across a distraught 17-year-old boy who told officers he was attacked The teenager left the resort after staff asked him to leave but McGree and another staff member followed him off the property and assaulted him the business owner “demanded that he return to the ski hill and pay $120 (twice the pass amount),” which the teenager did The Journal Sentinel does not typically name suspects of crimes before they are charged however did so due to the nature of the crimes McGree's public stature as a business owner and authorities naming him publicly A worker at Tyrol Basin declined comment on the incident McGree took ownership of the ski hill with no background in the industry, aside from recreationally skiing as a child in Minnesota, the Journal Sentinel previously reported in 2018. McGree purchased the resort alongside other investors along with the help of a federal loan for young entrepreneurs The owner of Tyrol Basin is currently in Dane County Jail on the charges and was booked on Monday night Charges had yet to be formally filed in the case David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel we are discussing the madness that occurred at the Ft Lauderdale Pro Swim Ledecky’s world record in the 800 free proves that age is seemingly just a number for her but it also makes the Rio 2016 swim she beat out more memorable Marchand has a few areas of improvement to work on if he hopes to return to his Paris form at the World Championships this summer in Singapore having tight battles in both the 200 and 400 IM but ultimately touching 2nd in both Cal Bear and Mexican swimmer Humberto Najera took down a pair of national records in the men’s backstroke events January 14th, 2025 High School, Lifestyle, News Mount Horeb Freshman Gavin Beglinger swam as a one-man team at their January 7th dual meet vs the full roster at Sauk Prairie Beglinger is not the only swimmer on the Mount Horeb team but their roster is extremely small with only three boys total and they are not even able to field a relay it is not difficult to end up with only one swimmer One of the boys was sick leading up to the meet and the team knew in advance he would be unable to attend The other boy ended up being sent home from school early on the 7th also due to illness leaving Beglinger as the last man standing The boys were supposed to travel to Sauk Prairie that afternoon and Beglinger chose to travel alone and compete as the only Mount Horeb swimmer the meet between the two teams would have been canceled and none of the Sauk Prairie boys would have been able to swim either According to a Facebook post from a group celebrating acts of kindness in Sauk Prairie it was to cheers and thanks from the Sauk Prairie boys team They went on to invite Beglinger to swim as a member of two of their relays choosing to get disqualified in the events and cheered for all of his races as if he was a member of their own team At the end of the meet they took a group photo hoisting Beglinger into the air His mom emailed the team the following morning thanking them for the way they treated him I heard cheers for Gavin and initially thought there was another Gavin swimming and then I realized you were cheering for my Gavin   From the cheers at the beginning to the group photo at the end but I am even more proud of how you conducted yourselves out of the water encouraging others and being respectful to others mean so much in our world Sauk Prairie and Mount Horeb both compete in the WIAA Division II category and they will have their state meet February 21-22 Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" Quick note — just to give a full shout-out here — the two teams were Mt Horeb and the Sauk Prairie – Wisconsin Heights Coop So student athletes from three districts came together to make this happen (“Sauk-Heights” is currently in its 25th year as a Coop.) It would be awesome if he swam his limit of individual events and then did the rest exhibition More from Madeline FolsomSee All Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates the Mount Horeb Village Board passed a moratorium to temporarily stop new e-cigarette and vape shops from opening in the village I guess a proliferation of vape stores that have been opening in and around the Madison area." "One resident asked about if we'd consider a moratorium on it,” said Village Administrator The moratorium lasts for 180 days and prevents new retailers from opening a shop if more than 10% of its space is dedicated to electronic smoking devices “It's not about stopping it." "It's just making sure we have the proper rules and regulations to make sure it's done correctly,” said Owen The intent of the temporary measure is to give the village board time to consider a more permanent ordinance the purpose is to put a hold on it so we can evaluate our process see if there's anything we need to change with the permitting process zoning process to make sure we're protecting our citizens,” said Owen Owen said this idea has been in consideration for the past month and it was approved the first week of December especially with younger kids using it now." "So we just want to make sure we have all our bases covered,” said Owen There's only one vape shop in Mount Horeb The moratorium will not directly affect this business because it was established before the motion was passed Mount Horeb is not the only area that has put a moratorium in place in Dane County The City of Monona also passed one in June 2024 Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInMADISON (WMTV) - A 60-year-old woman from Mount Horeb was arrested early Saturday morning for her alleged 7th OWI charge A Wisconsin State Patrol Trooper found a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of I-39/90 in Dane County around 5:15 a.m. The trooper then found the driver allegedly asleep at the wheel She was arrested on a 7th OWI charge and brought to the hospital for a blood draw Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInMOUNT HOREB Mount Horeb-Barneveld hosted Sauk Prairie in a D3 first round game 2 seed and averaged more than 40 points a game against their opponents this season They won the conference and beat the Eagles 30-7 in late September Seventh seeded Sauk Prairie beat Madison Edgewood last week to lock in their playoff spot Both teams headed into the matchup with strong quarterbacks who come into the playoffs already boasting double-digit touchdowns and throw for over 120-yards per game Mount Horeb-Barneveld took home the victory over Sauk Prairie 36-6    and there’s a good chance of crossing cart paths with Nolan Krentz Mom got us into junior lessons out here and [I’ve] basically been playing out here ever since Krentz coaches the Mount Horeb High School golf teams but spends most of his free time in the fairway To say he plays a lot of golf is an understatement “I’ll play basically February to December.” Krentz estimates he plays golf 250 to 275 days most years A few years ago he achieved a different goal His drive to do something bigger only increased from there your goal is to get 10,001 the next year,” Krentz says Krentz kept playing more holes than the previous year Until he played more than 17,000 holes during 2020 and 2021 “Then it got to be where I really wanted to get to 18,000 that year in 2022,” Krentz says That’s an average of almost 50 holes a day So there are plenty of days that Krentz can’t play due to weather It helps that he’s a good player and he goes fast It takes him about 45 minutes to play the 9-hole golf course “[I’m] definitely not going full out on every swing,” Krentz says “You’re kind of saving yourself That helps me hit the ball a little straighter.” An unofficial world record for number of golf holes played in a single year “It was a good number to finish on to remember the Guinness Book of World Records requires golfers to keep a log book and have witnesses for every round Krentz mostly plays by himself and tracks his progress using sticky notes Krentz knows of at least one other golfer in Texas playing at this frequency But no matter how many holes Krentz plays or who ends up with the record “I think for me it’s some sort of self-fulfillment,” Krentz says ”You have a couple hours where you’re on your own You’re focused just on what you’re doing.” so he says it might be a few years before he can beat his personal record seeing Krentz walking the fairways at Norsk will always be par for the course ‘As the Sun Sets on Summer Soccer’: A coach celebrates his comeback kids ‘The Largest Gathering of Norwegians in Northwestern Wisconsin, Probably: Gierefest’ How Marquette men’s basketball super fan Rick Smith became the ‘Jump Around Guy’ New Richmond’s Battle of the Buses brings thrills and spills Love Wisconsin? You’ll love Wisconsin Life, a place for engaging stories of the people that make Wisconsin feel like home. Produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin © Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin, services of the Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents The Dane County District Attorney announced Monday that police officers who fatally shot a student outside a Mount Horeb middle school will not face charges The 14-year-old student was killed outside the school May 1 after pointing a weapon at police Police were responding to a report of a person with a gun near the school they saw a large number of students sprinting from the building The boy arrived at school in the late morning armed But the event was terrifying for students and teachers who waited for hours on lockdown to be released to their families Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said his office reviewed briefings from investigators photographs and other video evidence before making the decision.  When police arrived at the school around 11:30 a.m. they saw the student carrying what they believe to be a black rifle with a synthetic stock and black barrel “The officer immediately began to yell commands to the subject to drop the rifle and to move away from the school,” according to the report “The subject did not comply with the demands to drop the rifle and instead turned to pull on the door of the school again.” The officer said he feared the student would go into the middle school with the gun the student walked toward the officer with the rifle He then pointed the rifle at the officer’s face “The officer continued to move around the squad for cover as the subject continued to move toward the officer,” the report said “The officer fired one to two shots at the subject from about 20 yards away The subject moved and the officer tried to keep the squad between them The subject continued to not follow commands.” That officer saw two squads with lights activated and believed shots were fired by other officers When they removed the rifle from the student “Under these circumstances the air rifle possessed appeared to be a real firearm and the action of pointing it directly at law enforcement while advancing toward law enforcement was perceived to be a direct threat to the life of an officer,” Ozanne wrote “Responding to that threat with deadly force is permitted under the law.” (WMTV) - Two undefeated teams faced off Friday night the Mount Horeb Barneveld Vikings and the Stoughton Vikings As this weeks WMTV Friday Football Blitz game of the week both teams are fighting to remain the Vikings with a perfect record Both teams were 4-0 going into Friday night’s game Cheering on the home team from the sidelines was Mount Horeb Barneveld’s cheerleading squad was excited about the energy her squad brought to the Viking’s field “There are some girls on here that I have been coaching since they were in kindergarten doing youth cheerleading and some that have been here all four years They just are very responsible and I can kind of leave things up to them sometimes,” said Skogen her cheerleading team and Mount Horeb Barneveld fans all were excited to get “rowdy” during the battle between Vikings appetizers and sides are what to get at Driftless Social in Mount Horeb only served drinks during its first year in business and drew good crowds Driftless Social opened two years ago in Mount Horeb and started serving full meals a year later Matt and Tim Schmock, grandsons of the founders of the former Smoky’s Club supper club and steakhouse in Madison, began serving appetizers in January 2024 and rolled out full meals a month later starters and sides that were the most memorable but the way chef Jeff Whitford prepared these took them to a whole new level nicely sweet coleslaw that came with the baked cod ($18) as part of the Friday fish fry The other rice pilafs of the world could take a lesson from this one The fish itself was peppery and crusted with other seasonings on top but still needed the cup of drawn butter that came with it The dinner roll on the side was perfunctory but my friend who got the same one with her 5-ounce filet mignon and shrimp ($36) loved it declaring the steak not well seasoned or easy to cut I ended up with half her steak and found it perfectly acceptable My friend ordered it with mushrooms and onions (an extra $3 each) and I agreed that they added surprisingly little My friend was also critical of her side choice Matt said the potatoes are boiled every morning and hand-chopped They’re fresh and they’re a little chunkier Just the same exact way we did ‘em at Smoky’s forever.” The two large shrimp come either coconut style The cocktail sauce that came with was ineffectual Both plates were served alarmingly hot with lots of heat coming off the filet platter The crabcakes at Driftless Social in Mount Horeb Two pan-seared crabcakes ($15) that started the meal were without peer: thin There was little breading and they were not at all oily Cajun aioli on the plate provided the perfect complement Our waiter said it comes through a distributor dessert was a carrot cake/cheesecake ($9) and I felt the same indifference I wanted to like it more because it was a brilliant combo but the cheesecake had too much frosting and didn’t need whipped cream on both sides I was glad to learn later that these cheesecakes aren’t made in-house I didn’t want dessert after my recent meal because I had been slowly sipping a Bruce Dahmen Spartini ($12) It’s named in honor of the longtime principal of Memorial High School (home of “The Spartans”) who died in 2014 Matt said he and Tim went to Memorial with Dahmen’s sons and at Driftless they serve his favorite martini My initial visit was also on a Friday night and the friend I was with got the walleye ($28) “they nailed it,” adding that the hashbrowns were “basically flawless.” She found the coleslaw too sweet The eggplant Parmesan ($24) was disappointing because the eggplant was cut too thick and not cooked enough for me It had plenty of cheese on top and came with a generous portion of those stunning green beans with melted Parmesan cheese he said it’s Whitford’s special blend of salt “He might throw a little something extra in there.” The other great discovery was the spectacular smoked trout dip ($14) with buttery sourdough crostini but I wasn’t going to find out anything more as was the Boulevardier ($14) with bourbon You’ll need to make a reservation at least a week in advance for a Friday night The renovation of the building that had housed Schubert’s diner and bakery for decades is beautiful The wood awning over the bar comes from Smoky’s and the wallpaper with yellow fans is meant to evoke “The Great Gatsby” era of the 1920s Driftless Social has comfortable booth and high-top seating Matt said his family bought them from the owners of the old Cuba Club on University Avenue I preferred the booth seating of my first visit to the high-top table by the bar of my second At least the tall chairs were cushiony and comfortable Website: driftlesssocial.com but bar often stays open until midnight if it's busy; 9 a.m Parking: Street parking and parking lot nearby the room attractive and the seating comfortable With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food Email notifications are only sent once a day Golden Nest in Sun Prairie goes through 300 dozen eggs a week True mom-and-pop shop that does fried catfish and fries well along with Italian beef and taqueria fare based on recent Wisconsin State Journal reviews Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More Wis. — No criminal charges will be issued for the three law enforcement officers who were involved in a Mount Horeb Middle School incident in May the Dane County District Attorney said Monday A male student enrolled in the Mount Horeb Area School District was outside of the middle school May 1 The student was not able to enter the school but the school district was on lockdown for hours Police arrived at the school after the suspect was reported Officers asked the subject to drop the weapon The suspect did not comply and pointed the weapon at officers No one else was injured as a result of the incident Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said law enforcement executed a “comprehensive The suspect’s weapon was later determined to be a Ruger .177-caliber pellet rifle.  Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said in a statement exonerating Mount Horeb police officers Tyler Stephens Carson Stoddard and Steve Rosemeyer the 14-year-old suspect's air rifle looked like a real firearm and he refused repeated commands to drop the weapon The state Justice Department released hundreds of pages of investigative notes Monday connected with the May 1 shooting at Mount Horeb Middle School that showed the suspect had planned to “get the popular kids” for months Investigators found writings in his journal entitled “Battle Plan,” dated Jan He planned to tell his mother that he was sick burn down the library and go after the popular kids he wrote that the attack would take place May 1 because the weather would be warmer and he wouldn't have to hide in muddy fields Investigators also discovered a message written on his bedroom wall in black marker that read: “Hi COPS To the officer who has to shoot me: I’m sorry Surveillance video shows the suspect ramming the end of the air rifle against the locked glass front doors of the school in an apparent attempt to break in One student described how the suspect nearly got into the cafeteria by ringing a bell from the outside Someone unlocked the door but quickly locked it again after seeing he had the rifle behind his back Rosemeyer told investigators they appeared to be in “pure fear and running for their lives.” Rosemeyer found the suspect trying to pull open a door and opened fire along with Stephens and Stoddard after the suspect refused commands to drop the air rifle Stoddard told investigators that the suspect had a rifle pointed at Rosemeyer during “90% of the incident.” Stoddard said he feared that the teen would kill students if he got inside the school Investigators recovered around two dozen shell casings from the scene suggesting the officers fired multiple rounds at the teen a homemade explosive known as a Molotov cocktail fireworks and a vial of uranium ore in the suspect's backpack School surveillance video shows the suspect lighting off a firework and tossing it away as he's walking toward the middle school Investigators said the uranium appears to be designed for testing Geiger counters and was available for public sale online The Mount Horeb Police Department issued a statement Monday saying Ozanne's decision not to charge the officers marks another step as the community continues to heal "We cannot express how proud we are of the courage all the officers and first responders displayed that day," the statement said “They responded to an armed subject on school grounds and did not hesitate or delay The response showed how many remarkable people are willing to put their lives on the line for our children and the community.” saying he was glad to see the community come together with compassion after the incident Mount Horeb Area School District Superintendent Steve Salerno posted a message Monday on Facebook saying the investigative files should help the community understand what happened it repeatedly emphasizes the heroism of so many — most especially the very first responding law enforcement professionals,” Salerno said A friend whose name was redacted from the files told agents that the suspect was friendly and liked to joke around The friend said kids outside his friend group thought he was weird and would push him around Another classmate told investigators that the suspect had been bullied the previous school year