By Shereen Siewert
TOWN OF CLEVELAND — A report of a man pointing a gun at a school bus driver in Marathon County that prompted school lockdowns and a massive police response is being blamed on a filmmaker creating a documentary, police said.
Police at 11:14 a.m. were alerted to the area of Fairview Drive and CTH P in the town of Cleveland after a witness saw what looked like a firearm being pointed at a school bus driver, said Marathon County Chief Deputy Chad Billeb. Seven Marathon County squad cars immediately responded, along with units from Athens, Edgar, Stratford and Spencer. Schools in at least four nearby districts went on lockdown while the report was investigated, Billeb said.
But when police arrived, they found a group of filmmakers from Mischief Films working on a documentary. The “weapon” reported was actually a microphone boom and there were no firearms being used, Billeb said.
“There was no emergency,” Billeb said. “Someone was just filming a documentary and it wound up creating a mess.”
Schools were given the all clear just before noon.
wow…people just need to get a life. This is like the person who called the cops on those wausau west kids for shooting each other with nerf guns in the parking lot years ago. Oh my goodness the guns were just a blazin hurry police!
Todd, better safe than sorry, and better communication might have prevented this from happening… like informing the local police, the bus company…
remember the nerf gun battle was preceded by some speeding and wild driving and ended up on school property… they apologized and did some community spots as a public service… and no nerfs were injured by the police!
“better communication might have prevented this from happening… like informing the local police” We don’t live in a total police state—yet. Inform the police that you are going to be openly carrying your microphone? >:-D
Regarding the Nerf gun battle, I remember this clearly because I reported on it at the time. There was no speeding or wild driving (or school property, for that matter) involved. Rather, the issue, like this, was that a resident reported something he or she saw that appeared to be a dangerous situation. In the Nerf incident, a witness thought he saw two vehicles parked on a city street. One person came out of one vehicle and pointed what the witness THOUGHT was a real gun at the driver of the other car. That was not the case, but it prompted a police response. (There were also issues with students entering PRIVATE property while they played the game.)
Similarly, in this instance, the witness reported what he or she thought was a person pointing a gun at another person. Better communication wouldn’t have improved this, though better eyesight might have. Initially, Chief Deputy Billeb was operating under the impression that there was a gun (real or fake) involved, and he thought the film company could have informed them of what was going on to prevent this. However, he later learned there was no weapon whatsoever – the witness was mistaken. So the film company can’t really be faulted for not calling the police first before filming. No weapons were involved and there was no danger, real or perceived, to the public.
My memory was based on the disturbance and other reports I read!
Was the driving in the neighborhood part of the disturbance?
The second issue we would like to address in this press release is the decision to issue disorderly conduct citations to the six individuals involved. The basis for this decision was the disruption caused to the neighborhood, not the use of Nerf guns. This incident happened on Stevens Drive, in a residential neighborhood, on the side of the roadway. There was enough disruption to cause a neighbor’s attention to be drawn to see what was happening. The neighbor then saw what they believed to be several people brandishing firearms and pointing them at another vehicle. This resulted in the 911 call.
Luck no one was harmed and police demonstrated due diligence and restraint.
Meahwhile…
Nerf wars game led to New Hope crash, two injured
Bystanders were caught in the crossfire with students of Robbinsdale Armstrong.
By Karen Zamora and Paul Walsh Star Tribune staff writers MAY 17, 2016 — 10:08PM
High school students playing an organized game of “Nerf wars” caused a crash in New Hope that injured two innocent bystanders Monday night, according to police.
In December, Nerf wars played a role in a crash that killed two of four Lakeville teens when the pickup truck they were riding in rolled over.
“and it wound up creating a mess.” WHO created the mess??? The Sheriff’s Department.
Locked down four schools that weren’t even in the neighborhood? I hope this will be a learning experience.
Yet again John is proven wrong so he must misdirect to something else and try to tie in events that had nothing to do with the one he made false claims about.
It was a boom microphone. It does not look like a gun aside from being black painted and longer than it is wide. If every object that matches that description makes that person call the police, they may need some time at the healthcare center to discuss their irrational delusions.
This was some ninny who knew darn well there was no gun. They just wanted to watch everyone scatter and start a scene. They might have been jealous of the film crew or upset that people were daring to have fun.
Wausau had something very similar once. A person called Wausau PD and sent squad cars screaming down Thomas St in full pursuit mode because they saw a man in a Star Wars Storm Trooper costume (with others in costume as well) with a plastic laser blaster and told 911 that Dairy Queen was being robbed. The knew darn well it wasn’t being robbed. A bunch of costumed nerds were having a nice time getting ice cream. They just wanted to scare people and see the commotion going on when the police came screaming to the location.
Chris, where was I proven wrong or right? When something happens, I do research… the results in Wausau was a disturbance call, it two other situations an accident with injuries and two deaths…
Shereen remembered…
You said “remember the nerf gun battle was preceded by some speeding and wild driving and ended up on school property… ”
Shereen showed us that you made that all up.
Proven wrong (frequently) and you get belligerent about it and bring up unrelated instances to try to prove your incorrect point.
Bye John. On to your next string of false and unrelated claims to derail threads.
John, here are your exact words when first mentioning the nerf incident…”remember the nerf gun battle was preceded by some speeding and wild driving and ended up on school property… they apologized and did some community spots as a public service… and no nerfs were injured by the police!” Shereen disproved your statement because there was no wild driving, no speeding and no ending up on school property. As far as disturbance call part, it is a general description that can apply to just about anything. The same is true for a disorderly conduct charge. The other two have nothing to do with Wausau or the area, but do create a distraction, if you really did research you would have gotten the correct information on the nerf fight in Wausau. This article is about a passerby reporting to the police and what happened as a result. I do agree though given the current climate it is better to let local authorities know there is a film being made and what area
I just want to know who the “mischief filmmakers” are. When looking them up on the internet and social media, nothing comes up. Never heard of them, and what kind of documentary would they be making in that area? That part is weird.
FYI, I know kids that attended both East and West from Confirmation Class and they told what really happened and what alerted the neighborhood… it also contributed to accidents and deaths in other places. Just because no charges were filed, because no police witnessed the activities… doesn’t mean high school students I talked to were not well informed…
can’t understand the need to prove me wrong and why you can’t just ask how I knew what happened.
From the police report: ”
The second issue we would like to address in this press release is the decision to issue disorderly conduct citations to the six individuals involved. The basis for this decision was the disruption caused to the neighborhood, not the use of Nerf guns. This incident happened on Stevens Drive, in a residential neighborhood, on the side of the roadway. There was enough disruption to cause a neighbor’s attention to be drawn to see what was happening. The neighbor then saw what they believed to be several people brandishing firearms and pointing them at another vehicle. This resulted in the 911 call.”
Nerf wars game led to New Hope crash, two injured
Bystanders were caught in the crossfire with students of Robbinsdale Armstrong.
By Karen Zamora and Paul Walsh Star Tribune staff writers MAY 17, 2016 — 10:08PM
High school students playing an organized game of “Nerf wars” caused a crash in New Hope that injured two innocent bystanders Monday night, according to police.
In December, Nerf wars played a role in a crash that killed two of four Lakeville teens when the pickup truck they were riding in rolled over.
Once again, Enk takes a story and this entire thread COMPLETELY down the shitter. Congrats, Mr. Two Name.
Thinks if he keeps repeating himself and adds a few more lies sprinkled in (all of a sudden he personally knows the kids involved and there was secret info that they only told him) that suddenly he’s right and everyone forgets the part where he just made stuff up.
Remember on the old WDH forums when no matter what job anyone mentioned he instantly claimed to have held the position and was an unquestionable expert in the field? Good times back then.
Chris, Since I don’t lie, your claim has no merit, I never said I personally new the kids… but I knew and still know students at West and East… it was secret, it was common knowledge to them…
I was once challenged about my experience by some students I was teaching, by the time Had listed the sixteenth job experience I had, they finally accepted I new things…
Wow. He just does it again and again.
Folks, I don’t lie… not how I was raised, against my person values, and religion… a matter of honor… so you can just stop with that false charge… hopefully you have similar values…
From the book The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell talks about three different archetypes of people: mavens, connectors, and salespeople.
Mavens make change happen through information and ideas. These are the people you ask whenever you want to know something about anything — they’re always the people in the know. They’re builders, engineers, process folks, and system folks. It’s all about the ideas and the information.
You might be a maven if:
You often feel overwhelmed because you have so many big ideas to unpack.
You’re often frustrated by how “thin” a lot of information seems.
You can get lost for days working on one idea, or spend months happily exploring the depths of one idea.
Your expression is largely about ideas and information, rather than about people or sizzle.
Connectors make change happen through people. They galvanize people. They’re natural hubs. That’s just the way they’re oriented to the world. These are people who, every time you ask a question, start flipping a Rolodex in the back of their mind, saying, “Who do I know who knows this? Who do I know who has done this? Who do I know that I need to connect you with?” They love connecting you with people, because they’re all about the people.
You might be a connector if:
You are constantly referring people to the right expert or service to solve their problem.
You love networking and talking with people, just for the sake of doing it.
When you’re talking to people, they say, “Wow — you know everyone!”
The stories you tell always focus on the people, not the ideas or the sizzle.
So… a MAVEN – a person with good knowledge or understanding of a subject
one who is experienced or knowledgeable
When I bring in more information or examples, that is expanding the conversation… I will not apologize for my wisdom, knowledge, experience, and education… get used to it!
John you seem to be a really insecure person, inflate about yourself and accomplishments. Take your medications.
john,
you don’t always bring facts a lot of your “facts” are opinions which are subjective. When you toot your own horn all of the time not only does it get old it makes everyone think you are insecure or full of it. Not once have i seen anyone on this board talk about what they do and what they have done or how smart they are. Why? Because that is irrelevant. Just becuase you have experience in something doesn’t make you 100% correct all of the time or make you an expert. I have a degree in economics but you don’t see me posting that all over the place like i’m a know it all….just to make others feel like their views are wrong.