APPLETON, Wis. — A call to assist a man thought to be having a medical emergency on a bus escalated into a shooting that ended with the man and an Appleton firefighter dead and two others hurt, authorities said Thursday.
The incident began around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday as police, firefighters and an ambulance went to help a 47-year-old man arriving in downtown Appleton on a bus from out of the area, police said.
The responders gave medical help to the man, who eventually left the bus and started walking toward a nearby library, whereupon “the incident escalated,” police said. Chief Todd Thomas said the man showed a handgun and exchanged shots with the police officers.
Firefighter Mitch Lundgaard, a 14-year veteran, was killed.
A female bystander and an Appleton police officer were also hit.
The woman was hospitalized in stable condition, and the officer was treated and released.
The 47-year-old man died at a hospital from his injuries, police said.
Appleton Fire Chief Jeremy Hansen said Lundgaard was married with three young children.
A long line of emergency vehicles escorted Lundgaard’s body from the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office in Milwaukee, where an autopsy was done, back to Appleton on Thursday.