Five people, including a teacher and student, were killed and others were injured after a shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin on Monday, the police chief said. According to Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, the suspect shooter is also among the dead.
Barnes said that the injured included two students who were in critical condition and four with less serious injuries. Providing further details about the incident, the police said that the shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, the Wisconsin capital. He said that 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 kilometres) away rushed to the school for an actual emergency. Soon after the incident, the police blocked off the roads around the school on Monday afternoon. A law official told AP that the shooter was a 17-year-old female student. The police said that the shooter was dead by apparent suicide when officers arrived at the crime scene.
Shootout shocks parents, students
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — kindergarten through high school — with approximately 390 students in Madison, the state capital. The shootout came as a shocker for students and parents. Parents were seen pressing children against their chests while others were seen squeezing 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.
Reason behind shooting still unknown
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." However, it must also be known that with a few rare exceptions, a 17-year-old can’t legally possess a gun in Wisconsin.
(With inputs from agencies)
