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UPDATE 4-Armed student takes hostages at Wisconsin high school

by (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 30 November 2010 02:33 GMT

(updates with release of 5 hostages)

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A student with a loaded handgun took a class of 23 high school students and a teacher hostage on Monday in the town of Marinette, Wisconsin, and police were trying to talk him into surrendering, the police chief said.

An official of the country emergency management department said that five hostages, all students, had been released by the early evening.

Marinette Police Chief Jeff Skorik said earlier there were no injuries so far in the incident and negotiators were communicating with the teacher in the classroom by telephone.

"We are hoping to be able to eventually speak with the student and resolve this matter," Skorik told reporters earlier.

He said the suspect, a male student, has not made his motive known nor made any demands. Investigators are meeting with the parents of the suspect.

School officials are reviewing a class roster with parents to determine exactly which students are in the classroom. Local health counselors are also with the parents.

Police were dispatched to the Marinette high school after a call at 3:48 p.m. local time, the official said.

At least 40 emergency personnel were on the scene and the school has been surrounded and the perimeter secured, he said.

Witnesses said there were numerous police cars and fire trucks on the scene and and the parking lot nearby was filled with people, many of them students.

The high school has about 800 students, according to its web site.

Marinette is about 50 miles north of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Greg McCune, Editing by Peter Bohan)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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