KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A 13-year-old boy who researched school shootings online was taken into custody hours after he tried to enter a Wisconsin elementary school while was armed, then fled from school staff, police said.

“We just missed a tragedy,” Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said Thursday afternoon.

Police believe the boy had a gun when he was arrested around 9 a.m. Thursday while trying to enter Roosevelt Elementary School with a backpack and gym bag in Kenosha, about 55 kilometers south of Milwaukee.

School staff members questioned the teen in a secure entry area and surveillance video showed a large black bag next to him, Patton said.

“The only reason the individual was unable to fully enter the school was because of the quick and diligent actions of school staff,” he said at a news conference Thursday . The boy immediately fled on foot when school staff approached him, Patton said.

The “suspect actually tried numerous exterior doors and entrances before getting to where our secure entrance is located,” Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Weiss said.

The teen attends Mahone Middle School and was a former student at Roosevelt Elementary School, police said. He was intercepted by police around 2 p.m. during a community-wide search.

Investigators “have information that the suspect has made several internet searches related to school shootings,” Patton said, adding that the suspect had shared videos and made several comments to fellow students in the weeks leading up to THURSDAY.

“It’s something that has been made known to people about its growing intentions,” Patton said. “We know there are internet searches and all the red flags that we look for and wait for someone to report were there.”

Police received at least one video of the student brandishing what investigators believe was a rifle, Patton said. The chief played video during Thursday’s news conference showing the student holding a gun as he appears to practice room entry techniques, Patton said.

The chief did not say when or where the video was filmed, but it appears to have been filmed in a home. In one scene, a cat walks in front of what appears to be a couch.

A message left Friday morning with Kenosha police was not immediately returned.

Police have not released the boy’s identity or said how he gained access to the gun. They said the suspect’s mother was cooperating with police, WISN-TV reported.

All Kenosha Unified schools were placed on “safe hold” for the remainder of the day Thursday. There are no classes on Friday at school; the district had previously scheduled a day off for students for a staff workday.

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