Antigo students, residents search for answers
ANTIGO - A night of fun and memories for Nikita Deep quickly turned frightening as armed police officers swarmed into Antigo High School on Saturday night.
Deep, the junior class president, had helped with the planning and setup in the weeks leading up to prom. She had been selected to the prom court as a first attendant, something she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl.
That dream ended horribly when, according to police, an 18-year-old man shot and injured two students leaving the prom before an officer fatally shot the gunman. Worse yet, Deep said she knew the shooter, Jakob Wagner, through their time in the marching band.
“It’s hard to kind of wrap my head around the situation,” said Deep, 16. “I talked to him (Wagner) a few times, but I have no idea why this happened.”
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Many people in Antigo were left looking for answers Sunday as news of the shooting spread through the community. Deep’s family attended a 10 a.m. service at Antigo United Methodist Church, at 2034 W. Fifth Ave. just down the road from the school. Pastor Debbie Pimm called on the congregation to pray for all involved in the tragedy, from students to parents, to police, to the family of the shooter.
“Bad things happen," Pimm said. "We just never expect them to happen where we are.”
After the service, Pimm told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter she had been at the prom to see the grand march but left before the shooting took place. Pimm said parishioners contacted her after the incident, and she has offered to meet with those looking to speak to someone. Counseling services will be available in all schools in the Unified School District of Antigo on Monday for students and staff, according to a district statement.
Colleen Schremp, whose house on South Sunset Drive is just down the road from the high school, said she awoke around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday to find police vehicles all around the campus. Schremp said she received calls from her husband, Dave, who is out of state, and son Nick in Wausau after they heard about the event on social media and wanted to find out if she was OK.
“I didn’t know what was going on, and when I looked outside it was crazy,” said Schremp, who has lived at her home for 23 years. “It’s always been really quiet around here. Things like this just don’t happen.”
Deep said about half of the students had already left prom by about 10:30 p.m., about a half hour before the shooting took place. Her father, Dr. Noel Deep, said he was initially confused by texts from Nikita and thought police were at the school to keep students inside. Once he realized there had been a shooting, he and his wife, Dr. Lakshmi Deep, went to the school where he connected with Nikita and later helped by serving water and snacks to students.
“It’s a terrible situation for everyone, and you just want to give those kids a face they know and bring them some comfort,” Noel Deep said.
Although she remained shaken by the experience, Nikita Deep said she plans to attend school on Monday. She credits her faith for keeping her strong, and said it sends an important message to move forward.
“The purpose of these actions are to instill fear, and if you hide it just encourages actions like this,” she said.
Nathan Vine: 715-345-2252 ornvine@gannett.com; on Twitter@NathanAVine.
