Man arrested after allegedly waving gun out car window passing 2 Waukesha schools

 

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Some scary moments Tuesday morning, May 25, for two Waukesha schools, when a man with a gun pointed it at students arriving for their day.

Waukesha police say the guy was the passenger in a car, and he was drunk at 8:15 a.m. when he threatened a bunch of students.

It was drop-off time at Lowell elementary when students spotted a guy hanging out a car window.

“With his butt hanging out of the window, sitting on the window pane and his hands on the roof of the vehicle, with a firearm in his hand, waving it around in the air.” said Waukesha Police Cpt. Dan Baumann.

A gym teacher walking with her class on Michigan Avenue radioed for help. The school resource officer alerted police, jumped in her car, then followed the gunman, who traveled past North High School as well.

“She’s really great for that because it could’ve been a real gun. You don’t know what could happen,” said Bridgitte Hall, who lives nearby.

Police caught up with the car about a mile away at University and Northview and found guns inside that look real, but they’re not.

“It was there to clearly scare the kids. He may think it was a joke. We clearly don’t think it was a joke,” said Cpt. Baumann.

The high-risk stop caused a scene. Police had a lot of manpower because they all happened to be heading to a training session.

“Weapons were drawn, the police were out there, they were behind their police cars and there was a canine unit,” said John Jawson, who lives nearby.

Police alerted other schools in the area, relaying real time information about the gun-toting passenger.

Waukesha schools expressed appreciation in a statement, saying “the safety and security of all is something we take very seriously.”

The driver was not arrested. The passenger is expected to be formally charged on Wednesday.