“Health care hero” nurse killed in Ashwaubenon shooting
The woman’s family and employer issued statements Thursday night
ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (WBAY) - A man and a woman are dead after a standoff in Ashwaubenon Thursday. They were identified Thursday night at Karissa Peronto, 27, of Ashwaubenon and Bryan Morales, 26, of Green Bay.
Peronto’s family released a statement through her employer, Prevea Health:
Prevea president/CEO issued a statement, as well:
Ashwaubenon Public Safety says they were asked to do a welfare check at a home on the 2300-block of Cedar Ridge Dr. after Peronto didn’t show up for work or respond to text messages that morning. Police say officers heard a scuffle in a garage there and then multiple gunshots.
Public Safety Chief Brian Uhl says officers did not fire any shots. Brown County SWAT was called to the scene and officers prepared for an armed standoff.
Police did not identify who they believe fired shots. During the investigation, Uhl said the suspect had a criminal record. “The suspect that we know right now has a criminal history, a violent criminal history, so we’re trying to take all precautions,” said Uhl.
Online court records show in 2016 Morales was convicted in Brown County of three counts of child abuse and three counts of sex with a child 16 or older. He was sentenced to three years in prison and had to complete a domestic violence program. In 2019, he was convicted in Dane County for false imprisonment. The Department of Corrections website shows he was released from a state prison in April and was on extended supervision. Online records don’t show Peronto had any criminal offenses.
Police evacuated residents of the four-unit apartment building on Cedar Ridge. Meanwhile, neighbors received an emergency alert on their phones telling residents near Cedar Ridge to shelter in place “due to shots heard.” Chief Uhl said people living within a quarter mile of the scene were asked to stay in their homes. Officers blocked off a part of Cormier Road to traffic. Assistance came from the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, and the Green Bay, De Pere and Hobart-Lawrence police departments.
After a number of attempts to make contact, the SWAT team placed a camera inside the garage and saw a man and a woman lying on the floor. The SWAT team went in and confirmed they were dead.
“We believe that there is no threat to the public,” Uhl said in the brief update Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, advocates said the crime was an act of domestic violence.
Roads reopened by 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
Adam Frich, who lives nearby, said, “Everyone on this street pretty much knows each other in some fashion -- if not by name by acquaintance, by waving, everything else. It’s a very quiet and nice neighborhood to live in.”
“It’s just sad to think that something so gut wrenching can happen here. It’s just sad. We are all in shock. All of us. Speechless,” another neighbor, Robyn Janelle, said.
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