A shooting at a Christian school in Madison, Wis., left three people dead on Monday, including the suspected shooter, who authorities say was a student at the school.
Police said children were among the dead and at least six others sustained injuries that “range from minor to life-threatening.” They said the shooter was found dead when officers arrived at the school.
Earlier, police said five people were killed in the shooting, but later said that information was incorrect.
The shooting took place at Abundant Life Christian School, a private institution that teaches some 400 students from kindergarten through Grade 12, the Madison Police Department said.
“Today is a sad, sad day, not only for Madison, but for our entire country, where yet another police chief is doing a press conference to speak about violence in our community,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters.
Barnes added: “Every child, every person in that building, is a victim, and will be a victim forever. These types of trauma don’t just go away.”
The police chief said the shooting took place just before 11 a.m. local time.
Video posted from the scene on social media showed a massive emergency response, including police, ambulance and fire vehicles.
Abundant Life Christian School wrote on its social media, “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.”
Members of a Facebook group for the school’s alumni expressed horror and offered prayers. Several people began organizing a donation and gift card drive for staff members and others affected by the attack.
“It is horrifying watching this happen in a place that was safe for so many of us,” one woman, Kristen Navis, wrote. “I am praying for all, the tragedy of life lost in this manner is almost incomprehensible.”
School shootings up in recent years
Gun control and school safety have become major political and social issues in the U.S., where the number of school shootings has jumped in recent years.
There have been 322 school shootings this year in the U.S., according to the K-12 School Shooting Database website. That is the second-highest total of any year since 1966, according to that database — topped only by last year’s total of 349 such shootings.
The epidemic of shootings has afflicted public and private schools alike in urban, suburban and rural communities.
Some have taken place in Christian schools. In March 2023, a former student at Covenant School, a private academy in Nashville, killed three children and three adults before being shot dead by law enforcement officers. Last month, two students aged five and six were shot at Feather River Adventist School near Oroville, Calif., by a gunman who later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting, and White House officials were in touch with local officials in Madison to provide any support needed.