Wisconsin school shooting: Teen student and teacher killed; female suspect dead, 6 students hurt
MADISON, Wis. -- A teacher and teenage student were killed, and six students were hurt in a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, police said.
Police had briefly mentioned a higher death toll but later revised the information.
The suspect, a student at the school, is also dead, police said. The teenage suspect used a handgun, police said.
The teen suspect was female, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.
A motive is not clear, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference.
Of the six injured students, two are in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, Barnes said. Four other students suffered non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
"But these are just the physical injuries that we know about. We know that this was the middle of the day of a school day, and so there will be other injuries that we'll have to face for a very, very long time," Barnes said.
Officers responded to the active shooter report around 10:57 a.m. The suspect was dead upon police arrival and no officers fired their weapons, Barnes said.
The shooting was "confined to one space," but it's not clear if it was a classroom or hallway, the chief said.
"I never saw so many police cars in my life -- just blue and red lights lining the school, lining the streets. Fire department, paramedics, everyone was there," swarming the usually quiet neighborhood, John Diaz de Leon told ABC News Live. "I saw groups of kids coming out of the school in groups into the church sanctuary probably as they were in lockdown and clearing the building and slowly taking out the kids bit by bit by bit."
He said he saw officers with long guns at the scene and older students run from the school across the parking lot.
"Later on, very slowly in a more orderly fashion, the younger students holding hands were let out to go across the parking lot," he said.
Police were actually gathered nearby at a training exercise. So, they arrived quickly and were well-prepared.
The school has been cleared, Barnes said.
"Our commanders, including the fire chief, and I was in a commander's training less than two weeks ago going over this exact same scenario for another fictional location. And so, all of that came into play today," Barnes said. "Stop the threat, stop the killing, find the threat."
Officials are working to reunite students with their parents. About 390 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the school.
"My mom, obviously, she lives nearby, and she watches my kids. So, she did give me a call that she saw a ton of police, and obviously my daughter goes here, and my nieces and nephews, my sister, so she called me on the phone. She told me, 'please remain calm.' So, I was already trying to mentally prepare," Bethany Highman said.
The shooting took place a week before the holiday break.
The police chief said he began his career as a teacher.
"We owe it to our community to do everything possible to ensure [schools are] not only a special place, but a safe place," he said.
"I hoped that this day would never come in Madison," Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said.
She stressed the need for gun violence prevention and said she wants the community and country to make sure "no public official ever has to stand in this position again."
"This is not a place that any fire chief or any one of us would ever want to be. And I can't believe I'm standing here today talking about this incident," Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said.
"Hard for me to place into words what they ran into," another fire official said.
Jill Underly, Wisconsin's superintendent of public instruction, stressed the need for change, saying in a statement, "This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to protect our children and our educators to ensure that such horrors never happen again. We will not rest until we find solutions that make our schools safe."
"The time for change is long past," Underly said.
A reunification center has been established for parents and students. Panicked relatives have been rushing to the center to find their students.
"I just bolted out, drove down here. I called my husband and, he made his way over here," one mother said.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., wrote on social media, "My sincere condolences and prayers for all the victims of the tragedy at Abundant Life Christian School. I will continue to closely monitor the situation."
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wrote, "I am closely monitoring the incident at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. We are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information and are grateful for the first responders who are working quickly to respond."
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., tweeted, "I have been briefed on the active shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison and my heart goes out to all those impacted. My office is in touch with local and state officials, and I stand ready to assist law enforcement and anyone affected."
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, according to the White House.
In a statement, he said:
"Today, families in Madison, Wisconsin, are grieving the loss of those who were killed and wounded at Abundant Life Christian School. It's shocking and unconscionable.
"We need Congress to act. Now.
"From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that don't receive 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. Every child deserves to feel safe in their class room. Students across our country should be learning how to read and write - not having to learn how to duck and cover.
"Jill and I are praying for all the victims today, including the teacher and teenage student who were killed and those who sustained injuries. We are grateful for the first responders who quickly arrived on the scene, and the FBI is supporting local law enforcement efforts. At my direction, my team has reached out to local officials to offer further support as needed.
"My administration has taken aggressive action to combat the gun violence epidemic. We passed the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, I have taken more executive action to reduce gun violence than any other President in history, and I created the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. But more is needed.
"Congress must pass commonsense gun safety laws: Universal background checks. A national red flag law. A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
"We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart."
There have been 112 school shootings where at least one victim was injured or killed so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
There have been 487 mass shootings in 2024 as of Dec. 16, including this latest one in Wisconsin. This time last year there were 641 mass shootings.
This is Wisconsin's eighth mass shooting so far this year and Madison's second mass shooting this year.
The Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one with four or more people injured or killed - not including the perpetrator - counted 656 Mass Shootings in 2023, 646 in 2022, 689 in 2021 and 610 in 2020.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC7 Chicago's John Garcia and Liz Nagy contributed to this report.
