Three people were killed, and six others were injured Monday after a suspect opened fire at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin.
The shooting happened at the Abundant Life Christian School mid-Monday morning, just days before the Christmas vacation. The school is nondenominational and is believed to have 390 students from kindergarten through high school.
Officers responded to the school around 11 a.m. following reports of an active shooter. Police said the shooting was confined to one space at the school but did not give any other information on whether it happened in a classroom or a hallway.
Who Is the Suspected Shooter?
The name and the age of the shooter have not been released by police. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting incident told CNN that the shooter was female and that she was a teenage student at Abundant Life.
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The suspected shooter was among the three dead. Officers said they did not fire their weapons and that the shooter was dead by the time they arrived at the school.
The suspected shooter's motivation is still under investigation. Police officers have been in contact with her family, who is said to be cooperating with police.
Police have also recovered a 9mm pistol at the scene.
Who Were the Victims?
Police have not yet publicly identified the victims but said the other two who were killed were a teacher and another teen. The six injured victims were students---two of whom were in critical condition as of Monday afternoon after sustaining life-threatening injuries, CBS News reported, citing Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes.
How Many School Shootings Happened So Far This Year?
A CNN tally showed the shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School to be the 83rd school shooting this year. That is the highest number of school shootings since CNN began tracking such shootings in 2008.
School shootings have been increasing since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, with 73 shootings in 2021, 79 in 2022, and 82 last year. In comparison, the number of such shooting incidents fell to 22 in 2020.
A total of 487 people have now died of mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
