A student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, opened fire Monday, killing two victims and wounding several others.
The massacre resulted in three casualties – a student, a teacher and the shooter – and six others, including children, transported to area hospitals just days before the Christmas holidays.
The suspected shooter was a teenager who attended the school and was found dead by police from a self-inflicted gunshot.
A law enforcement officer explained the situation CNN the shooter was a woman.
“We know the suspected shooter was a teenage student attending school,” said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes.
However, police are not releasing any information about the age or gender of the suspected shooter at this time.
“Again, no matter how hard today is, that’s still someone’s child that’s gone, that’s still someone dealing with what happened today. And so we want to make sure that we can ensure as much cooperation as possible,” he said.
Barnes noted that the suspected shooter’s family is cooperating with the investigation.
The massacre resulted in three casualties – a student, a teacher and the shooter – and six others transported to area hospitals
The suspected shooter was a teenager who attended the school and was found dead by police from a self-inflicted gunshot.
A student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, opened fire Monday, killing two others and wounding several others
‘Why did this happen? What do we know? What was the motivation?’ Barnes said. ‘Don’t know.’
It is not known whether the suspect had contact with police prior to the fatal shooting.
‘We don’t know if the shooter has had previous contact with the police. But I did check the school,” Barnes said.
“There were some calls, but they were like 911 hang-ups, that kind of thing. There was no indication that the school was a place where violence would take place.”
Chief Barnes said it happened in “one room” in the building, but did not say whether it was a classroom or a hallway.
“Six other people were injured, two students are now in critical condition in the hospital and these injuries are considered life-threatening injuries,” Barnes said.
“Four students are also in other hospitals in the region with non-life-threatening injuries.”
A gun was discovered by officers at Abundant Life Christian School and students are being interviewed by police.
A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told CNN that the shooter was a woman
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes called for condolences, saying, ‘That’s still someone’s child that’s gone.’
Barnes said officers responded to calls of an active shooter around 10:57 a.m.
“When officers arrived, they found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,” he said.
Barnes added that officers did not fire any shots at the school when they responded to the incident.
The police chief said the two victims of Monday’s school shooting were a teacher and a student.
The third person to die was the shooter, who appears to have committed suicide before police arrived at the school.
Police are not releasing any other information about those who lost their lives until next of kin have been notified.
“I’m not going to give out any information about who the victims are, whether they’re students, staff or parents, because we need to make sure we can notify people,” Barnes said.
Police sources report this Associated press they believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol.
Abundant Life Christian School has approximately 390 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The school was only a few days away from closing for the Christmas holidays and the students were getting ready for Monday night’s basketball game.