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A 15-year-old female student has been identified as the shooter in a tragic incident at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday. The shooting resulted in the deaths of a teacher and a fellow student, with the assailant later found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Shon Barnes, the police chief in Madison, confirmed during a press conference that three people lost their lives, and seven others were injured in the attack at the private school, which serves around 400 students. Barnes stated that the shooter, a 15-year-old student at the school, was found to have died from a self-inflicted wound.
The incident was reported by a second-grade student who called emergency services shortly before 11:00 am local time. Among the six hospitalized victims, two students are in critical condition, while two are in stable condition, and two others have already been discharged.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, and Barnes mentioned that the suspect’s family is cooperating with the ongoing investigation. The motive behind the shooting is still being determined.
Witnesses to the shooting reported hearing two gunshots during the attack. One child who witnessed the incident described hearing the shots followed by cries before being escorted by police to a nearby church for safety.
This shooting adds to the alarming number of school shootings in the United States, where gun violence continues to be a significant concern. Despite calls for stronger gun control laws, political gridlock has kept meaningful reforms from taking place.
Madison’s police chief expressed frustration over the recurring nature of such tragedies, stating that medical personnel responding to the shooting had just completed training for similar events. “We must come together to support our students and prevent tragedies like this from continuing,” Barnes said.
President Joe Biden condemned the shooting as “shocking and unconscionable” and reiterated the urgent need for stricter gun laws, urging Congress to act without delay.
While female school shooters are extremely rare, there have been a few incidents involving women in recent decades. According to David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, there have been at least four planned school shootings involving female attackers over the last 50 years.
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director, stated that the shooting had deeply affected the school community. It remains undecided whether students will return to school before the Christmas break.
This year alone, the Gun Violence Archive has reported at least 487 mass shootings in the U.S., with over 16,000 firearm-related deaths, not including suicides. Earlier this year, a 14-year-old boy killed four people in Georgia, and in 2022, a gunman killed 21 people, including 19 children, in a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
