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A teenage student killed a classmate and a teacher at a Christian school in Madison, Wis., on Monday before police found the suspect dead at the scene of the latest shooting to ravage a US campus, authorities said .
At least six other people were injured, police said. Two students had fatal injuries; four other people had non-life threatening injuries.
The shooting took place at Abundant Life Christian School, a private institution that educates about 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Police said the shooter, who used a handgun in the attack and was a student at the school, was found dead inside the school by officers and that no officers fired their weapons when they to answer The shooter was not identified by age or gender.
The reason for the violence, which according to the authorities took place somewhere in the school, was not yet known. The shooter’s family was cooperating with the investigation, police said.
Police earlier said five people were killed in the shooting, but later said that information was incorrect.
“Today is a sad, sad day, not just for Madison, but for our entire country, where another police chief is holding a news conference to talk about violence in our community,” said Cpl. of Madison Police, Shon Barnes, to reporters.
Barnes added, “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.”
The police chief said the shooting happened shortly before 11 a.m. local time.
Video posted from the scene on social media showed a massive emergency response, including police vehicles, ambulances and firefighters.
Abundant Life Christian School wrote on their social media: “Prayers requested! We had an active shooter incident in the ALCS today. We are in the middle of following up. We will share information when we can.”
Members of a Facebook group for former students of the school expressed horror and offered prayers. Several people began organizing a drive for donations and gift cards for staff members and others affected by the attack.
“Horrible to see this happen in a place that was safe for so many of us,” Kristen Navis wrote. “I am praying for everyone, the tragedy of life lost in this way is almost beyond comprehension.”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at an afternoon press conference that “we must do better in our country and in our community to prevent gun violence.”
School shootings have increased in recent years
Gun control and school safety have become major political and social issues in the United States, where the number of school shootings has increased in recent years.
There have been 322 school shootings this year in the US, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database website. That’s the second-highest total in any year since 1966, according to that database, surpassed only by last year’s total of 349.
The shooting epidemic has affected both public and private schools in urban, suburban and rural communities.
Some have taken place in Christian schools. In March 2023, a former student at Covenant School, a private academy in Nashville, killed three children and three adults before being shot and killed by law enforcement officers. Last month, two students, ages five and six, were shot at Feather River Adventist School near Oroville, California, by a gunman who later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The White House said that President Joe Biden had been informed about the shooting and that White House officials had contacted local Madison officials to offer him the necessary support.
