Several in custody after adults 'forced' their way into Merrill Middle School, had physical confrontation with staff, officers
OSHKOSH ‒ Multiple people are in custody after a number of adults "forced" their way into Merrill Middle School Wednesday afternoon and created a physical confrontation between them, school staff and police officers, according to Oshkosh police.
Oshkosh police said around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, family members and "acquaintances" of a student involved in a fight earlier in the day showed up at Merrill Middle School.
The adults forced their way into the school and "created a disturbance" that led to the school resource officer calling for back up.
School staff and the school resource officer asked the people who were in the school to leave, but they refused, which led to a physical confrontation between the intruders and the school staff and officers.
Oshkosh police said "several adults" and one juvenile were taken into custody, and the middle school was put on lockdown until the incident ended. Police report no weapons were involved in the disturbance.
In a letter Merrill and Webster Stanley Middle Schools principal Kristi Levy sent to parents at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, Levy said there was an altercation between students during lunch, which led to the school being put on a hold for about 15 minutes.
The school was put on hold again during the later confrontation of family members trying to get into the school. According to the letter, the situation was under control before the end of the school day.
The Oshkosh Area School District said in a statement Wednesday evening that it is committed to assuring its schools' and students' safety and that additional counselors and support staff would be onsite Thursday.
"Staff and students did exactly what they were trained to do to keep one another safe and we are grateful for the proactive safety measures in place throughout the District. We understand that today’s situation at Merrill Middle School had a significant impact on our students, staff and families," the statement read. "(The district) does not tolerate any forms of violence or aggression within our school communities. This incident is still under investigation and no additional comments will be provided."
Contact Bremen Keasey at 920-570-5614 or bkeasey@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Keasinho.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Adults, juvenile in custody after fight at Merrill Middle School
