A teenage shooter killed a fellow student and a teacher, wounding six others at a Wisconsin school on Monday, before police found the suspect dead at the scene in the latest school shooting to devastate a community in the United States.
Police later named the shooter as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who also went by the name Samantha.
Police did not publicly identify any victims at the Abundant Life Christian School, a private institution that teaches some 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
At least six other people were wounded, according to police. Two students had life-threatening injuries; four other people had injuries that were not life-threatening.
The teenage suspect used a handgun and was found dead inside the school by officers who immediately entered campus upon arrival, police said.
No officers fired their weapons, police said.
There was as yet no known motive for the violence, which authorities said took place in one space inside the school. The shooter's family was cooperating with the investigation, police said.
'A sad, sad day'
Madison Police chief Shon Barnes, a former public school history teacher, said the shooting took place just before 11am local time.
"Today is a sad, sad day, not only for Madison, but for our entire country, where yet another police chief is doing a press conference to speak about violence in our community," Barnes told reporters.
"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."
Two students are being treated for life-threatening injuries, while four others are in hospital in a non-critical condition. Source: AP / Morry Gash
'We need to do better'
Gun control and school safety are major political and social issues in the US where the number of school shootings has jumped in recent years.
There have been 322 school shootings this year in the US, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database website. That is the second-highest total of any year since 1966, according to that database — surpassed only by last year's total of 349 such shootings.
"We need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence," Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at a press conference.
Members of a Facebook group for the school's alumni expressed horror and offered prayers. Several people are organising a donation and gift card drive for staff members and others affected by the attack.
"It is horrifying watching this happen in a place that was safe for so many of us," one woman, Kristen Navis, wrote.
"I am praying for all, the tragedy of life lost in this manner is almost incomprehensible."
