Things to know about the shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin

Students aboard a bus as they leave the shelter following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

By The Associated Press

Two people were killed and others were injured Monday in a shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin. The shooting happened days before the Christmas break. Police said the student who opened fire was also dead.

Here are some things to know about the shooting in Wisconsin’s capital city:

What happened in Madison?

The shooting occurred late Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School. Police said a teenage student opened fire, killing another student and a teacher. The shooter also was dead, likely by suicide, Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Responding police officers did not fire their weapons, Barnes said.

The shooter was a 17-year-old female student, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The school website shows that Friday was to be the last scheduled day of classes before the holiday break.

President Joe Biden, in a statement, called the shooting “shocking and unconscionable,” and urged Congress to act immediately.

“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,” Biden said. “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.”

Nine public schools in Madison were locked down for a few hours after the shooting as a precaution.

What is known about the school?

Abundant Life Christian School is nondenominational and has about 390 students from kindergarten through high school, according to its website.

“Prayers Requested! Today, we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are in the midst of following up. We will share information as we are able,” the school posted on its Facebook page. “Please pray for our Challenger Family.”

The school’s website said it was founded in 1978 “to offer students academic excellence in a Christ-focused context.” The website said the school is accredited through the Association of Christian Schools International.

Have religious schools been targeted elsewhere?

The shooting comes less than two weeks after a gunman critically wounded two kindergartners at a tiny religious school in Northern California and then killed himself. Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said Glenn Litton was mentally ill and believed that by targeting children on Dec. 4 that he was carrying out “counter-measures” in response to America’s involvement in Middle East violence.

Litton, 56, gained entry to the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville,, California, by pretending he wanted to enroll a fictitious grandson, Honea said. He used a handgun to shoot and critically wound two kindergarten boys, ages 5 and 6. Authorities said Litton was found dead afterward just yards (meters) from the school’s playground.

It was unclear why Feather River School was targeted.

How many school shootings have happened this year?

The website for the anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety shows that there have been at least 202 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 56 deaths and 147 injuries, in 2024. That data doesn’t include the latest shooting in Madison.

The deadliest school shooting in 2024 happened in September at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Authorities said 14-year-old student Colt Gray opened fire with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle. Four people were killed and nine more were hurt, seven of them shot. A grand jury subsequently indicted Gray and his father Colin Gray — who was accused of giving his son access to the gun — on murder and other charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Last year, 45 people died in 158 school shootings, the Everytown for Gun Safety website shows. Sixty-seven people died in 181 school shootings in 2022, according to the data.

School shootings in recent years, including deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas, have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.

Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.