Two people died and others were injured during a Monday shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wis., that also left the suspected shooter dead, officials said.
Six people were injured, authorities said, with injuries ranging from minor to fatal, during the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School.
Officers responded to the school, located at 4901 East Buckeye Road, around 11 a.m. The shooting was confined to one area of the school, police said, but did not specify whether the shooting took place in a classroom or hallway.
What do we know about the alleged shooter?
The alleged shooter was among the three killed at the school. Officers found the young shooting suspect dead at the scene, Madison Police Chief Shon F. Barnes said.
“They found the person they believe was responsible, who was on the ground, dead,” the chief said.
Authorities said the suspected shooter was dead when officers arrived and that no officers fired their weapons.
Police said the suspected shooter was a teenage student at the school. Barnes said he would not yet share the age, gender or other identifying information about the alleged shooter. He said the alleged shooter’s motivation is not yet known.
Police have contacted the family of the suspected shooter, Barnes said. The alleged shooter’s family was cooperating with police.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was working on a “urgent trace” of the firearm the shooter used on Monday.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said.
What do we know about the victims of the school shooting?
Apart from the suspected shooter, two people were killed and six were injured, authorities said. Police have not yet publicly identified the victims. The names will not be released until officers speak with family members who lost loved ones in Monday’s shooting.
Authorities said the injuries ranged from minor to fatal.
Barnes initially declined to specify whether the victims were students or faculty, but released additional information during a news conference Monday afternoon. The two victims killed in the shooting were identified as a teacher and a teenager, Barnes said. All the injured victims were students. Two of the six injured were in critical condition as of Monday afternoon, with injuries that were considered life-threatening.
“I feel a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas,” Barnes said. “Every child, every person in this building, is a victim and will be a victim forever. This kind of trauma doesn’t just go away.”
SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital – Madison said it had seen patients after the shooting. UW Health also said it was receiving patients from the shooting.
What do we know about Abundant Life Christian School?
Abundant Life Christian School is a private school founded in 1978, according to the school site. It is a K-12 school with about 390 students.
“Prayers are requested! We had an active shooter incident at ALCS today,” the school posted on Facebook.
The school describes itself as a “private, nonprofit, nondenominational K-12 institution founded for the purpose of developing disciples of Jesus Christ through an excellent, comprehensive, Bible-integrated educational program that is thoroughly Christian in content , context and practice”.
Barnes was asked about the school’s metal detectors during a news conference Monday.
“I don’t know that the school had metal detectors or schools should have metal detectors. It’s a safe space,” Barnes said.
Murat Usubaliev/Anadolu via Getty Images
What are the gun laws in Wisconsin?
The Giffords Law Center, which reviews gun laws, gave Wisconsin to C in its annual dashboard.
According to the center, “the state still lacks a number of key policies that would reduce gun violence.”
In Wisconsin, possession of a firearm under 18 is a misdemeanor, while selling, lending, or giving a gun to a person under 18 is a felony. It is also a state crime to allow a child under the age of 14 to be within range of a loaded firearm.
Bringing a loaded gun to a school is also a crime.
President Biden and Governor Evers Respond to Wisconsin Shooting
President Biden was briefed on the Wisconsin shooting, a White House official said. Mr. Biden called the shooting shocking and unthinkable and called on Congress to act.
“From Newtown to Uvalde, from Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that go unnoticed, it is unacceptable that we cannot protect our children from this scourge of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept this as normal. Every El every child deserves to feel safe in their classroom. Students across our country should learn to read and write, not learn to hold and cover.”
Gov. Tony Evers ordered the U.S. and Wisconsin flags to fly at half-staff after the shooting.
“As a parent, grandparent and governor, it is unthinkable for a child or an educator to wake up and go to school one morning and never come home,” Evers said. “This should never happen, and I will never accept this as an abandoned reality or stop working to change it.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who founded a national gun violence prevention organization, said her heart went out to the Madison community.
“Just days after remembering the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School, another school community has been subjected to the terror of a mass shooting in Madison,” Giffords said in a statement. “Students deserve to go to school free of gun violence, but in our country, it is the number one killer of children, a devastating and preventable tragedy that demands action from our elected leaders.”
How many school shootings have happened in 2024 so far?
Monday’s shooting came just days after the victims of the Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook school shooting were remembered.
according to Education Weekthere have been 38 school shootings this year that resulted in injuries or deaths.
Earlier this month, two kindergarteners were injured in a north California school shooting.
In the last four years, school shootings have killed more than 200 people and injured more than 600, according to a CBS News analysis of the K-12 School Shootings Database.