Police said the suspected shooter, a student, was among the dead.
Police guard as emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, after a shooting at the school.
Amid announcements about lunch menus, fundraisers, and Christmas concerts, Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, posted, “Prayers Requested!” It was the scenario so many teachers and parents fear: a shooter on campus.
By mid-morning on Monday, just days before Christmas vacation, two people had been killed, at least six injured, and the suspect—believed to be a teenage student—found dead, according to police.
One killed was a teacher, and another was a teenage student, police later updated. Two of the injured were in critical condition, they said. Four of the injured have non-life-threatening injuries.
“I’m feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas,” said Madison police chief Shon Barnes at a press conference shortly after the shooting. “Every child, every person in that building, is a victim and will be a victim forever. These types of trauma don’t just go away.”
This would be the most casualties in a shooting at an evangelical school since the 2023 shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, where six were killed, including three 9-year-olds.
Madison police did not share details on the victims, saying they needed to notify relatives. They also did not identify the gender of the shooter, and Barnes said they do not have information on a motive. Police did not fire a shot in their response, Barnes said, but found the shooter dead. Police set up a reunification site for families nearby.
“My heart is heavy for my community,” said Barnes. “We have practiced, unfortunately, and practiced and practiced, and that’s why we’re able to reunify students with their parents within hours of a school shooting.” Barnes commended the officers who “selflessly ran into a building not knowing what they would encounter.”
The school wrote on Facebook, “Today, we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are in the midst of following up. We will share information as we are able. Please pray for our Challenger Family.”
The K–12 school shares its a 28-acre campus with City Church, a nondenominational church that the school describes as a parent ministry, as well as Campus for Kids, another City Church ministry that provides preschool and afterschool care. City Church is affiliated with the Fellowship of Christian Assemblies, a network of autonomous churches with roots in Scandinavian Pentecostalism.
Abundant Life started in 1978 with a vision of “providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment,” according to the school website.
It has an enrollment of about 390 students, is accredited through the Association of Christian Schools International, and belongs to a Christian school network in Wisconsin called Impact Christian Schools.
“We are committed to developing the whole person: intellectually, spiritually, socially, and physically,” wrote principal Doug Butler on the school website.
The school had a Christmas concert last week, where children sang, “Glory be to you alone.” The students were supposed to have an Ugly Christmas Sweater Day this Friday.
City Church canceled all campus events for Monday evening, citing the incident, and said it would have a regularly scheduled prayer meeting on Tuesday.
Local churches called on congregants to pray for Abundant Life. New Life Church ELCA in Madison posted a prayer of lament for the school.
“God, giver of life, you intend for humans to live together in peace,” the church wrote. “Enfold in your loving embrace all who mourn.”
“We are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information and are grateful for the first responders who are working quickly to respond,” said Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, posting on X.
Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway shared her condolences with “the whole Abundant Life community.”
“Our focus now is on supporting them and supporting the victims and their families,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We will continue to do that in the coming days and weeks.”
This is the second school shooting at a Christian school this month. A gunman shot and wounded two kindergartners at a Seventh-day Adventist school in rural California on December 5, and then killed himself. The boys, 5 and 6 years old, were in critical condition but are recovering.