Shooting at Wisconsin Christian school kills pupil and teacher

Shooter, reportedly a female pupil, also wounded six others and was dead when police arrived

A family leaves Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, after a shooting that left two dead. AP

A teenage pupil opened fire on Monday at a private Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teenager, police said.

The shooter was a 15-year-old girl, according to Wisconsin law enforcement. Police said the shooter was already dead when officers arrived.

The shooter wounded at least six others at Abundant Life Christian School, including two pupils who are in a critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.

“I’m feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas,” Mr Barnes said. “Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever … We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened.”

Abundant Life is a non-denominational Christian school, from kindergarten to the end of high school, with about 390 pupils. It is in Madison, the state capital. After the shooting, pupils were led next door to City Church, where buses took them elsewhere to be reunited with families.

Nine public schools in Madison were locked down for a few hours as a precaution.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, but the shooter's family is co-operating with police. Officers blocked off roads around the school and federal agents were at the scene to assist local law enforcement.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post.

President Joe Biden in a statement called the shooting “shocking and unconscionable”. “We need Congress to act. Now,” he said. “From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that don’t receive attention – it is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence.”

The President was referring to other school shootings over the past several years. In Uvalde, Texas, a gunman killed 17 pupils and two teachers in 2022. In Parkland, Florida, in 2018, a gunman killed 19 people at a high school. And at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, a gunman killed 26 people, 20 of whom were between six and seven years old.

There have been 322 school shootings this year in the US, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database website. That is the second highest total of any year since 1966, according to the database. Last year's total was 349.