Three people were killed and others injured on Monday filming at a private Christian school in Madison, Wis., officials said.
The suspected shooter was among the three dead, authorities said. Six people were injured, authorities said, with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, in 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 a single area of the school, police said, but did not specify whether the shooting occurred in a classroom or a hallway.
What do we know about the alleged shooter?
The suspected shooter was among three people killed at the school. Officers found the juvenile suspect dead at the scene, Madison Police Chief Shon F. Barnes said.
“They found the person they thought was responsible, who was on the ground, deceased,” the chief said.
Authorities said the suspected shooter was dead by the time officers arrived and no officers fired their weapons.
The suspected shooter was a teenager at the school, police said. Barnes said he would not yet share the age, gender or other identifying information of the suspected shooter. He added that the motives of the suspected shooter were not yet known.
Police have made contact with the suspected shooter’s family, Barnes said. The suspected shooter’s family was cooperating with police.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was working on an “urgent trace” of the firearm used by the shooter Monday.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said.
What do we know about the school shooting victims?
In addition to the suspected shooter, two people were killed and six injured, authorities said. Police have not yet publicly identified the victims. The names will not be released until police speak with family members who lost loved ones in Monday’s shooting.
The injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening, authorities said.
Barnes initially declined to specify whether the victims were students or teachers, 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 of the injured victims were students. Two of the six injured were in critical condition Monday afternoon, with their lives considered in danger.
“I’m feeling 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. These types of traumas don’t just go away.”
SSM Health St. Mary’s–Madison Hospital said it received patients after the shooting. UW Health also said it was seeing patients following 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’s website. It is a K-12 school with approximately 390 students.
“Prayer requested! Today we had an active shooter incident at the ALCS,” 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, biblically integrated educational program that is entirely Christian in its content, context and practice.”
Barnes was asked about metal detectors at the school during a news conference Monday.
“I don’t know if the school had metal detectors and schools shouldn’t have metal detectors either. It’s a safe space,” Barnes said.
What are the gun laws in Wisconsin?
The Giffords Law Center, which reviews gun laws, gave Wisconsin a C on its annual scorecard.
According to the center, “the state still lacks a number of key policies that would go a long way toward reducing gun violence.”
In Wisconsin, possession of a firearm before the age of 18 is a misdemeanor, while selling, lending or giving a firearm to a person under 18 is a felony. It is also a state crime to allow a child under 14 to be within reach of a loaded firearm.
Bringing a loaded gun into a school is also a crime.
President Biden and Governor Evers react to Wisconsin shootings
President Biden has been briefed on the Wisconsin shooting, a White House official said. Mr. Biden called the shootings shocking and unconscionable and called on Congress to act.
“From Newtown to Uvalde, from Parkland to Madison, and so many other shootings that don’t get any attention, it is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept it as normal “The child deserves to feel safe in his or her classroom. Students across the country should learn to read and write, without having to learn to hide and cover. “
Governor Tony Evers ordered the flags of the United States and Wisconsin to be lowered to half-staff after the shooting.
“As a father, grandfather and governor, it is unthinkable that any child or educator could 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 a forgone reality and never stop working to change it.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who founded a national gun violence prevention organization, said her heart goes out to the Madison community.
“Just days after commemorating the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School, another school community was subjected to the terror of a mass shooting in Madison,” Giffords said in a statement. “Students deserve to attend a school free of gun violence, but in our country, it is the leading cause of death among children – a devastating and preventable tragedy that demands action from our elected leaders.
How many school shootings have occurred so far in 2024?
Monday’s shooting occurred just days after the victims of the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting were remembered.
According to Education Week, there have been 38 school shootings this year it resulted in injuries or deaths.
Earlier this month, two kindergarten students were injured in a crash in the North Shooting at a California school.
Over the past four years, school shootings killed more than 200 people and injured more than 600, according to a CBS News analysis of the elementary and secondary school shooting database.