Governor: Wisconsin must 'step up' after school shootings

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday that after shootings on consecutive days at Wisconsin high schools, the state must increase funding for mental health services at schools — a shift from his past insistence on passing gun control measures that Republicans legislators refused to consider.

Evers told The Associated Press in an interview that he is committed to working with Republicans who control the Legislature to secure additional mental health funding and that he's optimistic because of the GOP's past support for such funding. The Legislature this year approved about $25 million for children's mental health programs over the next two years, which was far short of the $116 million Evers requested.

Even so, they were closer on those issues than on gun safety bills. Evers called a special session on a pair of bills, but Republicans refused to debate either measure. One was a universal gun background check bill and the other was a “red flag” proposal that would allow judges to take guns away from people determined to be a risk to themselves or others.

Evers said Wednesday that he still sees those as part of any solution to combating violence in schools, but he conceded that because of Republican opposition, “it's not going to happen in the near future."

The shootings this week at high schools about 90 miles (145 kilometers) apart have shaken the state and caused a renewed debate over how to combat violence in schools. On Tuesday, an Oshkosh Police Department resource officer shot a 16-year-old student after the boy stabbed him at Oshkosh West High School. On Monday, a Waukesha police officer shot a 17-year-old Waukesha South High School student who pointed a pellet gun at another student's head. Neither of the students who were shot suffered life-threatening injuries.

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