Speaking at a press conference about the above shooting, Police Chief Shon Barnes in the Wisconsin capital of Madison said a teacher and a teenage student died at Abundant Life Christian School, a school private for children from 5 to 18 years old. This school has about 400 students, according to AFP.
Students prepare to board the bus to the reunion center, where they will meet their parents after the shooting at Abundant Life Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) on December 16
Police were alerted to the shooting by someone at the school shortly before 11 a.m. December 16 (local time). Upon arrival, police discovered multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds and also found a teenager they believed to be the perpetrator dead at the school, according to Mr. Barnes.
“We believe that the shooting suspect is a student at the school,” Mr. Barnes added, affirming that police “never opened fire” in the incident.
Mr Barnes refused to reveal the suspect’s gender or exact age, saying “as difficult as today is, it’s still someone’s child that’s gone”.
Also according to Mr. Barnes, a pistol was recovered at the scene, adding that the suspect’s family is cooperating with the police in the related investigation.
Police said two students were being treated for life-threatening injuries, while four other students were in hospital in non-critical condition, according to AFP.
US President Joe Biden condemned the new shooting as “shocking and unconscionable”, claiming the tragedy once again emphasized the need for stricter gun laws.
“It is unacceptable that we cannot protect children from this evil of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept this situation as normal,” Mr. Biden declared.
The violent incident on the morning of December 16 is the latest in a series of school shootings in the US. In September, a 14-year-old man killed four people at a high school in Georgia before being arrested.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been at least 487 mass shootings in the US, according to AFP citing data from Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a group specializing in tracking gun violence. A mass shooting is defined as a shooting that involves at least four victims, either fatal or injured.
GVA said on December 16 that at least 16,005 people have died in gun violence in the US this year, not including suicides.
