Viroqua police department enlists outside agency to investigate simulated gunfire at Fourth of July event

July 31, 2026

VIROQUA Wis. – Viroqua police officials have turned to an outside law enforcement agency to investigate a controversial simulated machine gun display that alarmed some spectators during the local Fourth of July fireworks show.

The incident occurred at the Vernon County Fairgrounds when a Jeep carrying four individuals drove onto the track before the fireworks display. Mounted on the roof of the vehicle was a simulated 50 caliber automatic rifle that produced highly realistic muzzle flashes and rapid gunfire sounds. Because the weapon sounded like a real firearm, many spectators, especially those watching from the nearby Viroqua Community Arena who could not see the Jeep, feared a mass shooting was underway.

As we previously reported the display sparked immediate public outrage and raised significant public safety concerns. In the days following the event, Viroqua Mayor Krista Browne and Viroqua Skylighters organizers Dane Piper and Dean Hoff met and issued a joint public apology. During that address, the mayor noted that poor decisions were made and acknowledged the community deserved complete transparency.

“We know better because of our roles as public servants veterans and students of hunter safety that this act was not safe and in the moment poor decisions were made,” said Browne. “We apologize.”

Viroqua Police Chief Rick Niedfeldt launched the official investigation after the mayor informed him of the details. Niedfeldt explained that the complaints were filed directly with the mayor’s office after the holiday rather than through emergency dispatch on the night of the event. He met with the city attorney and Fire Chief Chad Buros to review the situation before deciding to bring in an outside department to ensure the investigation remained completely impartial.

“After the conversation, it was decided to have an outside agency look into the complaint and see if anything criminal in behavior was done,” said Niedfeldt.

Niedfeldt declined to identify the specific outside agency conducting the probe but confirmed they are looking into potential criminal violations, interviewing witnesses, and trying to determine the exact intent of the individuals involved.

The Vernon County Board Public Safety Committee also debated the issue during a July meeting where Sheriff Roy Torgerson briefed supervisors on the technical details of the weapon. Torgerson confirmed the device was actually a propane powered replica equipped with a spark plug rather than an actual firearm. Despite the fake nature of the device, committee members expressed deep concern over the lack of public notification and the potential for a tragic misunderstanding.

Committee Chair Frank Easterday pointed out that while the organizers may have planned the dsiplay, the crowd was left completely in the dark.

“They knew it was going to be put on, but the people didn’t know it,” said Easterday. “It was part of the entertainment, supposedly. It’s just a little bit scary if you don’t know what’s going on.”

Easterday highlighted the possibility that an armed citizen might have attempted to defend the crowd.

“Well, they’re lucky that there wasn’t some citizen that had a concealed carry and decided he needed to take charge, start shooting at them,” said Easterday. “You know, when you don’t know what you don’t know, bad things can happen. So good thing they got through it as well as they did, and nothing bad did happen.”

County Supervisor David Strudthoff made the case that public perception of danger is the primary issue regardless of whether a weapon is real. He compared the event to someone bringing a realistic replica gun into a public space like a school.

“They perceived it as the real deal,” said Strudthoff. “So how did they get off walking away with a smile …you scared the shit out of people.”

Sheriff Torgerson agreed that perception is reality in high stress situations. He explained that both civilians and officers are judged on what they reasonably perceive in the moment.

“I think that to answer your question about deadly force, it’s what you, what you perceived, what you reasonably perceived in that moment,” said Torgerson. “That’s how you would be judged on that.”

Niedfeldt reported that the outside agency is expected to complete its investigation and deliver a formal report very soon. The chief and the mayor plan to thoroughly review the findings before releasing the report and providing a final update to Viroqua residents.

“I suspect that the report will be done any day now,” said Niedfeldt. “Once we get the Outside Agency’s report, the Mayor and I will review it and update the public.”