MADISON — A teenage student killed another student and a teacher when he opened fire this Monday at his school in the northern United States, before being found dead, in the umpteenth tragedy of this type to shock the country.
“Three people died, including the alleged shooter,” said Shon Barnes, the police chief of Madison, a city in the American Midwest.
The suspect, whose age and gender are unknown, is a “teenage student” enrolled at the private Abundant Life Christian School.
The two deceased victims are a teacher and a student, Barnes said at a press conference.
He added that there are six injured students, two of whom are struggling between life and death.
At 10:57 a.m. local Monday, Madison police were informed of a shooting in progress at this private Christian school that serves nearly 400 students, from kindergarten to high school.
The shooter “was dead before our arrival,” Barnes said, adding that a “firearm” had been found and that the police had not fired.
The massacre occurred in only one place in the establishment. “I don’t know if it was in a classroom or a hallway,” he explained.
“There are no other threats or dangers to the community,” he said, and said he did not know the motive.
“Prevent”
“I think we all agree that enough is enough,” Barnes told reporters.
“We have to come together to do everything we can to support our students, to prevent press conferences like these from happening again and again,” added this man, who was a teacher before he was a police officer.
“We have to do a better job in our country and in our community to prevent gun violence,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, a Democrat.
School shootings are common in the United States, where regulation is lax, even for purchasing military-style rifles.
This year there were at least 487 mass shootings – defined as a shooting with at least four victims, dead or injured – across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
At least 15,998 people have died this year in the United States due to gun violence, this source indicates.
In early September, a 14-year-old teenager killed four people, including two students, at a high school in the state of Georgia, before being arrested.
Nineteen students and two teachers were shot dead in May 2022 when an 18-year-old young man opened fire at his elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Tony Evers, governor of Wisconsin, stated on his X network account that he is “closely monitoring” the situation. He added that he “prays for the children, teachers and the entire Abundant Life school community” while waiting for more information.
“We will share information as soon as we can,” Abundant Life Christian School wrote on its Facebook account.
The incident occurred on Monday around noon in Wisconsin, in the last week before the Christmas holidays. The shooter also died, police confirmed.
The Police reported on their official profile on the social network Facebook that an investigation is underway and has called on the local population to avoid the area of the Abundant Life Christian school.
In addition, he explained that the roads around the school were closed, so he recommended that drivers look for “alternative routes.”
Police reported that the students were taken to the Dean Clinic, 1821 S. Stoughton Road, a half-mile from the school for reunification with their parents or guardians.
