Soft lockdown as a result of Janesville robbery suspect
By Ryan Spoehr
Staff Writer
The Whitewater Unified School District, like most other southeastern Wisconsin school districts, were under a soft lockdown for several days as a result of the unknown whereabouts of a man suspected of robbing a Janesville gun shop.
After the Armageddon Supplies gun shop in Janesville was robbed on April 4 and authorities learned more of the alleged perpetrator Joseph Jakubowski, 32, Janesville, school districts were alerted to general threats he allegedly made regarding school districts.
On April 6, district officials met with law enforcement and the decision was to go on heightened awareness, essentially a soft lockdown of district buildings.
“I want people to know that we received information that warranted us to be more vigilant and more aware of our surroundings,” said District Superintendent Mark Elworthy.
Staff regularly monitored hallways and made sure each student connected with parents.
However, all the actions by the district were strictly precautionary. At no time has there been credible information regarding a possible threat to any building, or staff and students, Elworthy said.
Elworthy said preparation in the case of the soft lockdown helped it go as smoothly as possible.
“I appreciate how in-tune people were,” Elworthy said. “We spent a lot of time practicing over the past two years. We took it seriously.”
Precautions were made after the Armageddon Supplies gun shop, 2144 West Highway 14, Janesville, was robbed on April 4.
According to a press release issued by Rock County Sheriff Commander Tony Knudson, a large quantity high-end handguns and rifles were stolen, and the suspect fled the scene. The incident happened at 8:40 p.m. on April 4. Officials later specified in a press conference that there were 16 weapons in total stolen.
At 9:07 p.m. that same night, there was a report of a vehicle on fire on Pennycook Road, which is a short distance from the gun shop.
“At that scene was evidence of arson and it appears that the burglary and vehicle arson events are connected,” Knudson said in the release.
The registered owner of the vehicle is Jakubowski. He was named as a suspect in both the burglary and the fire.
“Information was received in the early morning hours on April 6 that Jakubowski has been highly agitated recently regarding a variety of political issues. It was further reported that he had made threats to steal weapons and to use them against public officials or at an unspecified school,” Knudson said in the release.
Schools were notified and several districts in the area were placed on a soft lockdown, and Janesville schools did not have classes last Friday.
During a press conference hosted by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office last Friday, officials said they did not know of the whereabouts of Jakubowski.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Police Department Chief Matt Kiederlen made a statement on its Facebook page at 12:37 p.m. on April 6.
“Our officers are on alert and we continue to monitor the situation,” the statement said. “The individual involved has no known connection to our campus and has made no direct threats to our camps. We can and do provide safety escorts for anyone who requests it.”
The FBI put Jakubowski on its wanted list last Friday and offered a $10,000 reward for details leading to its arrest.
UPDATE: Jakubowski was arrested on April 14 near the border between Richland and Vernon counties.
