A tragic school shooting rocked the United States on Monday as a 15-year-old female student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, killing a fellow student and a teacher before taking her own life.
Police Chief Shon Barnes confirmed during a press briefing that three people, including the shooter, had died, while seven others were injured in the incident. The private Christian school, which houses about 400 students, now mourns the loss as the community grapples with the tragedy.
“The shooter has been identified as a 15-year-old student at the school,” Barnes said, noting that evidence suggests she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities said the shooting was first reported when a second-grade student called emergency services shortly before 11:00 am local time. A handgun was recovered at the scene, and the suspect’s family is cooperating with investigators.
Of the six hospitalized victims, two remain in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while two are stable and two have been discharged.
“We are still working to determine a motive,” Barnes stated, adding that medical personnel responding to the scene had just completed active shooter training.
One young witness recounted the horror to local media: “We heard two gunshots, and then some people started crying. We waited until the police came and escorted us out.”
The violence, occurring just days before the school’s Christmas break, adds to the grim tally of U.S. school shootings. President Joe Biden condemned the attack, calling it “shocking and unconscionable” while reiterating his call for stricter gun laws.
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence,” Biden said. “We need Congress to act. Now.”
A Rare Female Shooter
While school shooters are overwhelmingly male, incidents involving female attackers are not unheard of. According to David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, at least four planned school shootings in the past 50 years have involved female assailants.
The Abundant Life shooting is one of 487 mass shootings recorded in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The organization also reports that over 16,000 people have died from firearm violence in 2024, excluding suicides.
School officials, including Director of Elementary and School Relations Barbara Wiers, have not yet decided if students will return before the year-end break. “This has obviously rocked our school community,” Wiers said.
The devastating attack joins a growing list of mass shootings in schools, including a September incident where a 14-year-old boy killed four people in Georgia and the 2022 Uvalde massacre in Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were killed.
