AP Photo/Morry Gash Emergency vehicles are parked outside Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, following a shooting Monday, Dec. 16.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A teenager opened fire Monday at a private Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teen in the final week before the Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said.

The shooter also injured others at Abundant Life Christian School, including two students who were in critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.

The shooter who killed a teacher and a student Monday at a private Christian school in Wisconsin was a 17-year-old student, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Police in Madison, Wisconsin, said the shooter was apparently dead by suicide when officers arrived.

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

The shooter was a 17-year-old student, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Police said the shooter appeared to have died by suicide when officers arrived.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school – kindergarten through high school – with approximately 390 students in Madison, the state capital. After the shooting, the students were driven next to the town’s church where buses took them elsewhere to reunite with their families.

Meanwhile, nine public schools in Madison were closed for a few hours as a precaution.

“Even though it’s difficult today, it’s still someone’s child that’s gone,” the chief said.

The motive for the shooting was not immediately known, he added.

“I don’t know why, and I feel like if we knew, we could prevent these things from happening,” Barnes said.

Someone from the school called 911 to report an active shooter shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just three miles away rushed to the school for a real emergency, Barnes said.

Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

“I don’t know if the school had metal detectors and schools shouldn’t have them either. It’s a safe space,” Barnes said.

The police blocked the roads around the school. Federal agents were on scene to assist local law enforcement.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post.

Bethany Highman, the mother of one student, rushed to school and learned via FaceTime that her daughter was OK.

“As soon as that happens, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,” Highman said. “There is no one around you. You rush out the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your children.

In a statement, the White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting and officials were in contact with local authorities to provide support.

“As a father, grandfather and governor, it is unthinkable that any child or educator could wake up and go to school one morning and never come home,” said Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. “This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a forgone reality and never stop working to change it.” »

It is the latest in dozens of school shootings in the United States in recent years, including particularly deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.

The shootings have sparked fervent debates over gun control and strained the nerves of parents whose children grow up accustomed to active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to change the nation’s gun laws.

Guns were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that studies health issues.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the country needs to do more to prevent gun violence.

“I hoped this day would never come to Madison,” she said.