A tragic shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin on Monday has left a community grieving after a teenage shooter killed a fellow student and a teacher before being found dead at the scene, according to police reports.
The incident unfolded just before 11 a.m. local time, as Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, a former public school history teacher, recounted in a press conference. “Today is a sad, sad day, not only for Madison but for our entire country, where yet another police chief is doing a press conference to speak about violence in our community,” Barnes told reporters.
The shooter, a student at the private institution that educates approximately 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, used a handgun in the attack. Officers who responded to the scene found the suspect deceased inside the school. Authorities declined to release the names, ages, or genders of the victims or the shooter, respecting the privacy of those involved.
In addition to the fatalities, six other individuals were wounded. Two students sustained life-threatening injuries, while four others suffered non-life-threatening wounds. Police confirmed that no officers discharged their weapons during the incident.
The motive behind the violence remains unclear, and the investigation is ongoing. Authorities noted that the shooter’s family is cooperating with law enforcement efforts. “Every child, every person in that building, is a victim, and will be a victim forever. These types of trauma don’t just go away,” Chief Barnes emphasized.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway addressed the broader issue of gun violence in the United States during the press conference. “We need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence,” she said.
The tragedy at Abundant Life Christian School represents the latest in a series of school shootings that have afflicted the nation. According to the K-12 School Shooting Database website, there have been 322 school shootings in the U.S. this year alone, marking the second-highest annual total since 1966, surpassed only by last year’s 349 incidents.
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Teenage shooter kills student, teacher at U.S. school, police say
cgtn.com
