Things to know about the shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin

Three people were killed and others were injured on Monday in a shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin. The shooting took place days before the Christmas holidays. Police said the student who opened fire was among the dead.

Here are some things to know about the shooting in Wisconsin’s capital:

WHAT HAPPENED IN MADISON?

The shooting happened late Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School. The names and ages of the victims were not immediately released, but Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said those killed included a “young person.”

Barnes said responding police officers did not fire their weapons. The shooter likely died by suicide, Barnes said.

The school’s website shows that Friday was to be the last scheduled day of classes before the holiday break.

The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting and officials were in contact with local authorities to provide support. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has also been briefed on the situation.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SCHOOL?

Abundant Life Christian School is non-denominational and has about 390 students from kindergarten through high school, according to its website.

“Prayers requested! Today we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are following up. We will share information as much as we can,” the school wrote on its Facebook page. “Please pray for our Challenger family. “

The school’s website said it was founded in 1978 “to offer students academic excellence in a Christ-focused context.” The website said the school is accredited through Association of Christian Schools International.

HAVE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS BEEN TARGETED ELSEWHERE?

The shooting comes less than two weeks after a gunman was critically wounded two kindergartners at a small religious school in Northern California and then killed himself. Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said Glenn Litton was mentally ill and believed that by attacking children on Dec. 4, he was carrying out “countermeasures” in response to U.S. involvement in violence in the Middle East.

Litton, 56, gained entry to the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville, Calif., by pretending he wanted to enroll a fictitious grandson, Honea said. He used a gun to shoot and critically injured two kindergarten boys, ages 5 and 6. Authorities said Litton was found dead afterward just yards from the school’s playground.

It was unclear why the Feather River School was attacked.

HOW MANY SCHOOL SHOOTINGS HAVE HAPPENED THIS YEAR?

The website of the anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety shows that there have been at least 202 shooting incidents on school grounds, resulting in 56 deaths and 147 injuries in 2024. That data does not include the latest shooting in Madison.

The deadliest school shooting of 2024 occurred in September at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Authorities said 14-year-old student Colt Gray opened fire with a semi-automatic assault rifle. Four people were killed and nine more were wounded, seven of them shot. A grand jury afterwards defendant Gray and his father Colin Gray – who was accused of giving his son access to the gun – on murder and other charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Last year, 45 people died in 158 school shootings, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety website. 67 people died in 181 school shootings in 2022, according to the data.