Indian Community School, a private school in Franklin that serves Indigenous Milwaukee-area students, will remain closed until Monday after a threat involving a handgun against a staff member on Wednesday evening, according to school administrators.
“The situation began with a dispute over a property boundary line and escalated to a direct threat, resulting in a police response and an arrest near the school,” read an email sent to families at roughly 9 p.m. Wednesday night.
Closing until Monday gives law enforcement time to complete its work and allow the school to strengthen protections for the school, the email stated.
“We are actively working with Franklin Police and believe closing the school is the safest decision for our students, staff, families, and community,” the email said. “We understand that an unexpected school closure creates challenges for families and appreciate your understanding as we carefully and responsibly address this situation.”
Second incident this week
The closing was preceded by a separate, apparently unrelated incident that led the school, located at 10405 W. St. Martens Road, to lockdown Tuesday afternoon.
The lockdown occurred after the school’s web monitoring system “picked up references to a picture of bullets in a revolver and dissatisfaction with [Indian Community School] on social media posts,” according to an email sent to families earlier Wednesday from Carrie McGhee Gleba, school administrator of Indian Community School.
According to a parent with several children at Indian Community School, students stayed in their classroom for about 20 minutes with the doors locked and found hiding spots. Staff let the students out of their classrooms about 10 minutes after the regular end time of the school day.
“We realize just how overwhelming and terrifying this experience was for our families, our staff, and most especially our students,” Gleba said. “During every moment of the lockdown, our dedicated staff surrounded your children with love, reassurance, and steady care.”
Franklin police investigated the incident that occurred Tuesday and determined that the social media image that referenced the revolver “was not an actual firearm or ammunition; there was no direct threat, and there was no indication of danger to ICS staff, students, or the community,” according to the email from Gleba.
The school operated normally Wednesday before administrators announced the closure later that evening following the second event.
As of Thursday morning, police had not released new information about the property dispute and have not yet responded to a request for comment. Indian Community School has also not yet responded to requests for comment.
The faith-based inter-tribal school served 359 students during the 2024-25 school year, according to its website.
The school places a focus on traditional Indigenous teachings, native languages and cultural values. The school was founded in 1959 and moved to its current location in 2007.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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