Mt. Horeb school shooter had molotov cocktails and mortar-type fireworks, report says

By Robert Chappell

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    MOUNT HOREB, WI (365 Media Foundation, Inc) — Just before 9 am on May 1, 14-year-old Damian Haglund let the family dog in. He’d told his family he had a headache and needed to stay home from school. A little over two hours later, he’d be shot and killed in a confrontatoin with polilce. He went to school after all, carrying a backpack filled not with books but explosives and incendiaries, armed with a pellet gun that looked enough like a high-powered rifle that a police officer who came face to face with it thought he’d never see his children again. As that officer and Haglund circled a squad car, two more officers arrived and fired more than 20 shots, killing the troubled teen as hundreds of students fled. It was an outcome Haglund knew would come. He’d been blogging for months about his obsession with school shootings, and musing about his own death. He left a note in his locker at school and several more in his bedroom at home, notes in his bedroom telling his mother to “live your life,” and telling the “officer who has to kill me, it’s not your fault.” The harrowing details of that day are laid out in a Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation’s report obtained by Madison365. The 1,602-page report includes descriptions of video footage, interview notes, search warrant applications and other court documents, and reveals for the first time that also brought mortar-type fireworks, 100 rounds of 22-caliber rifle ammunition and one molotov cocktail – and had two more elsewhere. The report also details the contents of several notes found in Haglund’s home and locker, indicating that he intended to die in the assault. A quirky odd ball Dane County District Attorney Ishmael Ozanne announced in a statement Monday that the police officers who shot and killed Haglund would not face criminal charges in his death. “Firearms are dangerous weapons and pose a grave danger of bodily harm and/or death to an individual. Under these circumstances the air rifle DSCH possessed appeared to be a real firearm and the action of pointing it directly at law enforcement while advancing toward law enforcement was perceived to be a direct threat to the life of an officer,” Ozanne said in the statement. “Responding to that threat with deadly force is permitted under the law.” The Division of Criminal Investigation was tasked with investigating the actions of Mt. Horeb police officers Tyler Stephens, Carson Stoddard and Steve Rosemeyer, but did not make any recommendation as to charges. Their report includes hundreds of pages of interview notes, court filings, photographs, diagrams and descriptions of surveillance videos. According to the report, many of Haglund’s teachers described him as an intelligent, “quirky,” “oddball” student who engaged well in class, related well with others, and befriended kids who were “different.” All told police he had never spoken of violence or showed any signs of what was to come. At least one student said Haglund had been bullied the year before – and that same student told police that Haglund had told him not to come to school on May 1, as Haglund planned to “pull the fire alarm.” Several students also described disturbing social media posts, though police were not able to substantiate those. Haglund’s positive exterior apparently hid something darker, as his personal website, in the months leading up to the attack, portrayed a young man in crisis. He wondered about death and whether anyone would miss him; he called himself a “Columbiner,” and said he was obsessed with and addicted to learning about school shootings – and lamented the lack of support to get over his “addiction.” The CDI report does not reference that website, but Madison365 has reviewed it. A few fateful minutes According to the report, someone whose name is redacted in the report called the Mt. Horeb Police Department at 11:08, reporting that about 10 minutes earlier, Haglund had asked to borrow keys to get something out of their car, but had instead taken the car and crashed it. At about the same time, surveillance video shows Haglund approaching the school from the east, through the softball fields next to the school, carrying a backpack and a long gun. That gun turned out to be a Ruger air rifle – a pellet gun – but, officers later noted, it did not have the orange tip or other markings that would distinguish it as less dangerous than a firearm. Video showed him throw a device “consistent with a lit firework” at the side of the school. It “exploded with visible sparks” and “flaming pieces ricocheted back” toward him, and video showed Haglund running away from the explosion with smoke coming from his legs. At 11:16, someone called 911 reporting that they’d seen someone with a gun approaching the Middle School. Dispatchers alerted police, and Stoddard, Stephens and Rosemeyer – the school resource officer – all responded. While they were in route, video indicates that Haglund jogged to the front door of the school – without his backpack – past someone seated outside and someone leaving the school through the front doors. He approached the doors, hit a glass panel with the butt of his gun, then hopped over a railing to approach the large windows looking in on the cafeteria, where almost the entire eighth grade was eating lunch. Video surveillance and witness statements from students in the lunch room indicate that Haglund waved at students in the lunchroom, tapped on the glass with the tip of his gun, then banged on it with the butt, sending students running in a panic. He returned to the front doors, then seemed to notice students pouring out of another door on the southeast corner of the school. He started running in that direction, but didn’t get there before it closed. He tried pulling it open, but it was locked. Rosemeyer told investigators he was on his way from the police department to the high school when he got the call. As he approached the middle school, he saw 20-30 students sprinting away from that door on the southeast corner, and someone with a rifle pulling on the door. He stopped in the middle of the street, grabbed his rifle, stepped out of the car and yelled at Haglund to drop his gun and step away from the school. He told investigators he didn’t want to fire, because Haglund had an elevated position and he worried more students might come out of the door. Haglund then approached Rosemeyer, first carrying his air rifle across his body, then pointing it at Rosemeyer. Rosemeyer said he didn’t want to shoot because “he thought the subject was a kid” and because Haglund was moving, so he worried that he’d miss. So he took cover behind his car and “thought he would never see his children again because he was going to die.” When Haglund closed to within roughly 20 yards, Rosemeyer did shoot once or twice, but missed. He crouched on one side of his car while Haglund reached the other. Meanwhile, Stephens was on his way and heard over the radio that shots had been fired. When dispatch asked if he wanted additional people, he told them, “send everyone.” He told investigators he saw Haglund on the ground on the driver’s side of Rosemeyer’s squad car, apparently aiming his rifle under the car toward Rosemeyer, who was taking cover on the passenger side. Stephens said he heard Rosemeyer telling Haglund to put the gun down but saw Haglund was not doing so, and fired 10 to 12 shots. Stoddard said he didn’t fire at first because he could have hit Rosemeyer, but when he saw Haglund raise his rifle, Stoddard opened fire, shooting eight or nine times. He said Haglund tried to stand, but ultimately fell. Stephens, Stoddard and Lt. Joshua Jarvis approached behind a ballistic shield, took Haglund’s rifle, handcuffed him, and then began rendering medical aid. When they lifted his shirt to attempt resuscitation with a defibrillator, they found a white t-shirt with two words written in black marker: NATURAL SELECTION. Officers later noted that Haglund’s pants were still smoldering, and his legs severely burned. Officers, including several more from neighboring towns and cities who arrived to assist, soon found Haglund’s backpack. After an x-ray by the bomb squad, it was loaded by robot into a travel bunker and taken to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office Training Center in Waunakee. It was later determined to contain one molotov cocktail, a lighter, 100 rounds of rifle ammunition, 6,000 pellets for the pellet gun, 12 spent rifle casings, one used shotgun shell, a knife, and 10 mortar-type fireworks. Authorities also found two other molotov cocktails, two knives, a gas can, a small propane tank for camping, two knives and a hammer, all in a backpack at another location, which is redacted in the report. It would be nearly eight hours before all students were reunited with their families, and five days before students returned to school. “There’s other kids out there like me” A search of Haglund’s locker uncovered a note, the contents of which is not included in the report, aside from the fact that the word “cops” jumped out to the officer who found it. In Haglund’s bedroom at home were a note written on the wall: “Hi COPS! To the officer that has to shoot me: I’m sorry, its not your fault. don’t forget that.” Other notes said, “I made some Molotov cocktails. I still need to find car keys,” and “I never thought I’d be leaving a suicide note. ‘Where was I on May 1?’ There’s other kids out there like me too. Maybe, say hi to someone once in a while.” In a statement issued Monday afternoon, Mt. Horeb School District officials declined to comment specifically on the report. “The Mount Horeb Area School District remains deeply committed to the well-being of our students, staff, and community,” the statement reads, in part. “We recognize that trauma recovery is a complex and non-linear process. As such, our efforts to provide comprehensive support will continue throughout the 2024-2025 school year. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated staff, supportive families, and the resiliency of our students.” Students return to Mt. Horeb schools on September 2.

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Robert G Chappell
rchappell@madison365.org
6082291597