Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 16
AFP: A 15-year-old female student was identified by police as the assailant who opened fire Monday at a school in the US state of Wisconsin, where a fellow student and teacher were killed and the suspected shooter was found dead.
Shon Barnes, police chief in the state capital Madison, told a press briefing that three people had died and seven others were wounded at the Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school with about 400 students.
“The shooter has now been identified as (a) 15-year-old,” Barnes told reporters, identifying the minor by name.
“She was a student at the school, and evidence suggests she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” he added.
Barnes said a second-grade student called emergency services to report the shooting shortly before 11:00 am local time (1700 GMT).
Of the six wounded victims who were hospitalized, two students remain in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, two people are in stable condition, and two have been discharged from hospital, the police chief said.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, Barnes said, adding that the suspect’s family was cooperating with the police investigation.
Monday’s violence is the latest in a long line of school shootings in the United States, where guns outnumber people and attempts to restrict access to firearms face perennial political deadlock.
Underlining the commonplace nature of mass shootings, the police chief said some medical personnel responding to Abundant Life came directly from training for such an event.
US President Joe Biden condemned the shooting as “shocking and unconscionable” and said the tragedy underscored yet again the need for tighter gun laws.
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept it as normal,” he said in a statement.
“We need Congress to act. Now.”
