Teacher and a teenage student killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Wisconsin

Emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A teenage student opened fire with a handgun Monday at a private Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teenager during the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said.

The shooter also wounded others at Abundant Life Christian School, including two students who were in critical condition and four with less serious injuries, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.

“I’m feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas,” Barnes said. “Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. … We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened.”

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.

Police said the shooter was dead by apparent suicide when officers arrived. Barnes declined to give details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family. With a few rare exceptions, a 17-year-old can’t legally possess a gun in Wisconsin.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — kindergarten through high school — with approximately 390 students in Madison, the state capital. Children and families were reunited at a medical building about a mile away.

Parents pressed children against their chests while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side. One girl was comforted with an adult-size coat around her shoulders as she moved to a parking lot teeming with police vehicles.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, Barnes said.

“I don’t know why, and I feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,” he told reporters.

Someone from the school called 911 to report an active shooter shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said.

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

“I’m not aware that the school had metal detectors nor should schools have metal detectors. It’s a safe space,” Barnes said.

Police blocked off roads around the school, and federal agents were at the scene to assist local law enforcement. No shots were fired by police.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post.

Bethany Highman, the mother of a student, rushed to the school and learned over FaceTime that her daughter was OK.

“As soon as it happened, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,” Highman said. “There’s nobody around you. You just bolt for the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your kids.”

In a statement, President Joe Biden cited the tragedy in calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and certain gun restrictions.

“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said it’s “unthinkable” that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.

It was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.

The shootings 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.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the country needs to do more to prevent gun violence.

“I hoped that this day would never come to Madison,” she said.

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Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Ed White and Josh Funk and photographer Morry Gash contributed to this report.