Milwaukee police swarmed a municipal building downtown Thursday afternoon after reports of shots fired in the building, but authorities now believe that no gunfire actually occurred.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson told reporters that employees in the Zeidler Municipal Building believed they heard shots fired after a former employee who had been terminated came to the building.
“At this point, there seems to be some doubts that there were actually shots fired,” Johnson said. “The examination of the area does not show any sign of shots being discharged.”
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The mayor said employees might have mistaken the sound of a slamming door for a gunshot.
“When they heard something they thought was gunfire happening, they immediately alerted law enforcement, and they immediately sheltered in place,” Johnson said.
He said he was relieved no one was injured, and he was grateful for the police response. He said the employees responded properly to the situation.
Milwaukee Police Inspector Sheronda Grant said police were called to the building for a report of shots fired at 3:07 p.m. She said police did a thorough search of the building.
“There is no information and no indication that a shooting, shots-fired incident, took place at this location,” Grant said.
Grant said the incident is still under investigation and there is a person of interest that police would like to speak to.
The shots-fired call led to building-wide lockdowns both at Zeidler and City Hall. Employees were evacuated.
Until police cleared the building, an automated warning played in City Hall telling people to take shelter. “Attention, attention, there is an active threat in the building, lock doors and shelter in place immediately,” it warned.
The Zeidler building houses municipal offices including the city attorney’s office and the city health department. Donald McLeod, who works in the records department in the basement of the building, said a colleague heard the alarm in City Hall and alerted him and other employees in the basement.
He said he sheltered in place until he was evacuated after 4 p.m.
“It was very worrying for a second there,” McLeod said.
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