Teen Left Note Apologizing to Officers Who Shot Him

3 officers exonerated in shooting of 14-year-old who refused commands to drop air rifle
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 12, 2024 7:00 PM CDT
Officers Who Killed Student Outside School Won't Be Charged
Law enforcement personnel respond to a report of a person armed with a rifle at Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.   (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Three Wisconsin police officers who killed a student as he tried to break into his middle school with an air rifle this past spring won't face criminal charges, prosecutors announced Monday. In a statement exonerating Mount Horeb police officers Tyler Stephens, Carson Stoddard, and Steve Rosemeyer, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said that 14-year-old Damian Haglund's air rifle looked like a real firearm and that he refused repeated commands to drop the weapon, the AP reports.

Moments after the announcement, the state Justice Department released hundreds of pages of investigative notes connected with the May 1 shooting at Mount Horeb Middle School that show Haglund had planned to "get the popular kids" for months.

  • Investigators found writings in Haglund's journal entitled "Battle Plan," dated Jan. 26, three months before the attack. He planned to tell his mother that he was sick, steal a car, sneak into the school at lunchtime, burn down the library, and go after the popular kids, according to the documents. He then planned to escape and die, the documents said.
  • 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, its not your fault. don't forget that." Haglund also left notes behind in his room, including: "Dear Mom, this was not your fault, live your life; DH."

  • Surveillance video shows Haglund 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 Haglund nearly got into the cafeteria by ringing a bell from the outside. Someone unlocked the door but quickly locked it again after seeing Haglund had the rifle behind his back, state agents said in the documents.
  • Rosemeyer discovered Haglund trying to pull open a door. Rosemeyer, Stephens, and Stoddard opened fire after Hagland refused commands to drop the air rifle, killing him, according to the investigative documents.
  • Stoddard told investigators that Haglund had a rifle pointed at Rosemeyer during "90% of the incident." He said he feared that the teen would kill students if he got inside the school. Haglund never got inside the school, and no other students were hurt.

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  • Investigators recovered around two dozen shell casings from the scene, suggesting the officers fired multiple rounds at Haglund. Police found 6,000 BBs, a homemade explosive known as a Molotov cocktail, fireworks, and a vial of uranium ore in Haglund's backpack. 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 that 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."
  • Teachers told investigators that Haglund was smart and quirky with an oddball sense humor, though he could be immature at times. A friend whose name was redacted from the files told agents that Haglund was friendly and liked to joke around but kids outside his friend group thought he was weird and would push him around.
(More school shooting stories.)

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