A shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday left three people dead and six injured. Days before Christmas break, the shooting took place. The teen student who started the shooting was one of the dead, according to the police.
A source told the Associated Press that a 17-year-old female student was thought to be the gunman, while Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes did not provide information regarding the shooter’s age or gender. Two of the injured were critically ill. Barnes stated that the injuries to the other four were not life-threatening.
Barnes pointed out Yes, the shooter’s family is currently collaborating.
The police chief determined that the weapon they had discovered was a pistol. The AP was told by a source that it was a 9 mm. According to Barnes, the firing was limited to a single area. He didn’t say if it was a classroom or not.
According to Barnes, a school employee reported an active shooter to 911.
According to him, staff responded from the police training center, which is three miles away from the school.
He claimed that what started out as a training day turned into a real day.
Barnes acknowledged that he was not immediately aware of the shooter’s motivation, but he also mentioned that investigators were making every effort to uncover as many answers as possible.
The following information relates to the shooting in the capital city of Wisconsin:
What happened in Madison?
The incident happened at Abundant Life Christian School, a K–12 institution with roughly 390 pupils, late on Monday morning. According to police, a teacher and another student were killed when a teenage pupil opened fire. Police Chief Shon Barnes stated that the gunman was also deceased, most likely from suicide. Barnes said that the responding police officers did not discharge their weapons.
According to a law enforcement officer who spoke to The Associated Press, investigators think the shooter used a 9mm pistol. Since the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing inquiry, they talked on condition of anonymity.
Friday was supposed to be the final day of courses before the holiday break, according to the school’s website.
In a statement, the White House said that officials were in contact with local authorities to offer help and that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting. The incident has also been briefed to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers.
On Monday, December 16, 2024, emergency vehicles are stationed outside Madison, Wisconsin’s Abundant Life Christian School. (Photo by Scott Bauer/AP)Scott Bauer | AP Image
What is known about the school?
According to its website, Abundant Life Christian School is nondenominational and enrolls roughly 390 students in kindergarten through high school.
We are asking for prayers! We experienced an active shooter situation at ALCS today. We are currently following up. The school wrote on its Facebook page, “We will share information as we can.” For our Challenger Family, kindly offer up prayers.
According to the school’s website, it was established in 1978 with the goal of providing students with academic achievement within a Christian framework. According to the website, the Association of Christian Schools International has granted the institution its accreditation.
Have religious schools been targeted elsewhere?
Less than two weeks have passed since a shooter at a small Northern California Christian school fatally injured two kindergarteners before taking his own life. According to Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea, Glenn Litton was mentally ill and thought that by attacking children on December 4, he was retaliating against America’s role in the tragedy in the Middle East.
According to Honea, Litton, 56, entered the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville, California, by claiming he intended to enroll a false grandson. He shot and seriously injured two kindergarten boys, ages five and six, using a firearm. Litton was later discovered dead, according to authorities, a few yards (meters) from the school’s playground.
The reason behind the targeting of Feather River School was unknown.
How many school shootings have happened this year?
According to the website of the anti-violence group Everytown for Gun Safety, at least 202 shooting incidents on school property occurred in 2024, leaving 56 people dead and 147 injured. The most recent Madison shooting is not included in that data.
In September of 2024, the bloodiest school shooting occurred at Georgia’s Apalachee High School. Colt Gray, a 14-year-old pupil, reportedly opened fire with a semiautomatic assault rifle, according to the authorities. Nine individuals were injured, including seven who were shot, and four people were killed. After that, a grand jury charged Gray and his father, Colin Gray, with murder and other offenses for allegedly allowing his son to possess a firearm. They both entered not guilty pleas.
According to the Everytown for Gun Safety website, 158 school shootings claimed the lives of 45 individuals last year. The statistics shows that 181 school shootings in 2022 claimed the lives of 67 persons.
Recent school shootings, such as the fatal ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas, have sparked intense discussions about gun legislation and strained the nerves of parents whose kids are growing up in schools that practice active shooter drills. However, national gun regulations have not changed much as a result of school shootings.
KFF, a nonprofit organization that studies health-related issues, reports that in 2020 and 2021, firearms were the primary cause of death for youngsters.
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