Clark County altercation called in as active shooter at OLVH hospital

by Joseph Back Shortly after press time last Tuesday morning July 27, a call came into the office: what exactly had taken place at the hospital over the weekend?

“It was lit up like Christmas,” the phone informant made known of Stanley Fire Department vehicles lighting up the school parking lot after 10 p.m. Saturday.

Not quite the same as Christmas in July, as things would turn out, although getting to the bottom of things would take a few phone calls and an in-person conversation at the August 2 Council meeting to sort out. Our first call was to the Stanley Police, from See FIGHT, Page 12 FIGHT

which we were directed to Chippewa County, thence to Thorp, as the dispatcher said that they didn’t know of a shooting, but that an incident at' Thorp' around' the' specified' date' could' have'

caused confusion.

Receving a press release from the Thorp department but still searching, we next posed questions to Stanley Fire Chief Korey Hagenson, who said he didn’t know what had occurred at Thorp over the weekend but that the Fire Department had been told to help land a helicopter “at an alternative location,” and that he had chosen the high school parking lot as a result.

An attempt to reach the Northwest Region division of the Wisconsin State Patrol was met with recorded answering machine on Monday August 2, while an inquiry put to Police Chief Lance Weiland later that night cleared up the confusion.

Weiland said that “there was an incident in Thorp that led to three people getting hurt,” but that this in turn led to miscommunication because it had been called in as an active shooter at the hospital. The incident had resulted in helicopter transport as well, it was made known.

Whereas Weiland said that Stanley had only been in a support role for the Thorp call, his version coincided strongly with that of the press release issued earlier by the Thorp police, which

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we reproduce in full here and without amendment from Thorp Police Chief Tydon J. Schneider, to bring clarity to the matter of the lit up parking lot: “On Saturday, July 24, 2021, at approximately 951PM, the Thorp Police Department responded to a physical altercation in the City of Thorp. Upon arrival, two victims were iden- tified' and' were' transported' to' the' hospital' for'

their injuries. A third victim left the scene on foot. During the investigation process it was reported that the third victim was possibly shot with'a'firearm'and'an'attempt'to'locate'him'was'

made. The third victim was later located walking in the City of Thorp with minor injuries. The

initial'investigation'did'not'locate'any'firearms'

or evidence of them being discharged.

During the time of the altercation, a celebration of life was taking place in the City of Thorp and'a'display'of'fireworks'was'coinciding.''At' this'time'it'is'believed'the'fireworks'may'have' been mistaken for gunshots. Chief Tydon J. Schneider Thorp Police Department” In closing it might be said that while rumors are often based in truth, that does not necessarily mean, that they are wholly accurate.