Three people injured and shooter dead in Wisconsin office building attack

Multiple people have been injured in a shooting at an office building in Wisconsin, where the suspect was shot and killed by police.

Middleton Police Chief Charles Foulke said officers responded to reports of an active shooter in the suburban area around 10:25 am local time. The suspect shot three victims, he said, before the officers fatally wounded him. There were no other suspects in the attack.

“I know you have a million questions and so do I, and I don’t know those answers," Mr Foulke said at an afternoon press conference. "The main thing we can say right now is that the suspect was neutralized.”

A UW Health University Hospital spokeswoman confirmed to The Independent earlier on Wednesday that four people had been transferred to the hospital with injuries. Two people were in serious condition and one was in critical condition, she said. The condition of the fourth was unclear at the time.

Officers from the county sheriff's department and the regional office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also responded to reports of an active shooter on the 1800 block of Deming Way in Middleton that morning.

The block houses offices for software companies WTS Paradigm and Esker, but employees of the latter told local news outlets the shooter had not entered their office. A witness to the shooting who works for WTS Paradigm told the Wisconsin State Journalthat the shooter was an employee of the company.

The witness said he heard about a dozen gunshots from what sounded like a handgun. He estimated the company had about 160 employees at that location.

The scene was still active more than an hour after the first report, with police warning residents to shelter in place. An Esker employee told the Associated Press that he and his colleagues hid in their office cafeteria for more than an hour after the shooting. The employee, Gabe Geib, said he watched people running away from the building in “full sprint.”

At least three schools in the area were also on lock down, as was the shopping centre next to the office building. Occupants of the office building and several others around it were evacuated to a nearby hotel.

"Please lock all doors, stay inside and shelter in place until further notice," the police department said in a news alert.

Judy Lahmers, a business analyst at WTS Paradigm, told the Associated Press that she ran out of the building and hid behind a car when she heard the shots. The building's glass entrance had shattered, she said.

“I’m not looking back, I’m running as fast as I can," she recalled. "You just wonder, ‘Do you hide or do you run?'”

US Senator Tammy Baldwin, who represents the state, thanked local law enforcement and said her office was monitoring the situation.

"My heart goes out to the people involved in the shooting," Middleton Mayor Gurdip Brar said. "You never would think this type of thing would happen in your city. Really, so sad that this happened here."