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Wisconsin Christian School Shooting Leaves 2 Dead And Six Injured

By Clemente Lisi
abundant life christian school wisconsin shooting
Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. (Video screengrab)

At least two people were killed and six others injured in a shooting Monday morning at a private Christian school in Wisconsin, authorities said.

The shooter, who has not been identified, was also found dead.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes offered few details regarding the 10:57 a.m. shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, a 28-acre facility that includes a daycare center as well as Kindergarten through 12th grade.

A teacher and a teenage student were killed in the shooting. Two of the six injured remain in critical condition.

“Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever,” Barnes said.

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abundant life christian fellowship
Campus of Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. (Video screengrab)

He said police officers who responded to the school did not fire their weapons. Barnes said medics who responded to the school had been in the middle of a training session at the time.

Investigators said the shooter, a student at the school, used a 9mm pistol.

Barnes said the motive remains under investigation — although detectives are “working hard to find as many answers as we can.”

On its website, the school said it was founded in 1978 as “a community Christian school, with its first graduating class in 1985.” Some 200 families from 56 different churches in the Dane County area, including metropolitan Madison and its surrounding communities, are represented in the student body.

The school posted on Facebook that they are seeking prayers.

“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 post read.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he was “closely monitoring the incident” as well as offering his prayers.

“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,” he added.

Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly said the community remains in mourning after the shooting, which took place just nine days before Christmas.

“This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to protect our children and our educators to ensure that such horrors never happen again,” she said in a statement. “We will not rest until we find solutions that make our schools safe, and so our children feel secure.”

This story was originally published by Religion Unplugged. 

Clemente Lisi is the executive editor of Religion Unplugged. He previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at The New York Post

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2 Responses

  1. I worked at the church that founded Abundant Life many years ago. I was in this building weekly when I served as their children’s pastor. This news brought tears to my eyes when I was made aware of it by the former staff members I worked alongside with at the church (known as Lake City Church, now called City Church). Also, the image you posted in the header of this article is not an image of the school (the drone shot is accurate, but the other image is not).

  2. “This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to protect our children and our educators to ensure that such horrors never happen again,” she said in a statement. “We will not rest until we find solutions that make our schools safe, and so our children feel secure.”

    … I guess we can just keep praying for the same thing over and over and, NEXT time, hope that God will do something about it…instead of something rational like, I don’t know…stop worshiping the 2nd Amendment like it’s from the Bible…but that’s just me….so in the meantime: thoughts and prayers…thoughts and prayers….

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