“Three people are dead, including the suspected shooter,” said Shon Barnes, the police chief of this Midwestern city. The shooter was identified as a 15-year-old girl, he later added. “She was a student at the school and the evidence suggests that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” he told a news conference.
The two dead are a teacher and a student from the private school Abundant Life Christian School, he said, adding that two of the six injured students are between life and death.
Madison police were notified at 10:57 a.m. local time of a shooting in progress at this private Christian school which welcomes nearly 400 students, ranging from kindergarten to high school. “The shooter was dead before we arrived,” said Shon Barnes, specifying that a “handgun” had been found at the scene of the tragedy.
The killing occurred in a single area of the establishment: “I don’t know if it was in a classroom or in a corridor,” he noted. “We have secured the school, there are no other threats or danger to the community,” he assured, affirming that he did not know, at this time, the motivations of the suspect.
“Prevent gun violence”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said on X he was “monitoring the situation closely”. He added “praying for the children, teachers and entire community at Abundant Life School as we await further information.”
Joe Biden denounced a “shocking and senseless” act. “Congress must act,” added the American president, who has long called for tougher gun laws in vain.
“I think we need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “I hoped this day would never come to Madison,” lamented the Democratic city councilor.
Repeated school killings provoke strong emotion in public opinion in the United States, a country which pays a very heavy price for the dissemination of firearms and the ease with which the population has access to them.
