Girl ran amok

Biden furious: “Children scourge of gun violence”

The shocked students are taken away from the scene.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Nerves are on edge again after the bloodbath at a school in the US state of Wisconsin. The perpetrator: a 15-year-old girl. She shot a classmate and a teacher, injured six other people and finally killed herself.

The teenager arrived at school on time and pulled out the gun about three hours after the start of the school day, officials reported. When the shooting began, students locked themselves in their classrooms and "behaved great," described Barbara Wiers, a department head at Abundant Life. "Students are practicing what to do in the event of a shooting, and they're usually told this is just a drill," Wiers said at the press conference. "They were clearly scared ... When they heard 'lockdown, lockdown' and nothing else, they knew it was real."

"The shooter has now been identified as a 15-year-old," Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. The shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School, a private facility in Madison that serves about 400 students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. "She was a student at the school, and indications are that she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Names have not been released. A school shooting perpetrated by a girl is still a rarity: according to studies, only about three percent of rampages are committed by females.

The Abundant Life Christian School

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What was the motive?
A motive for the violence, which according to the authorities took place in a room at the school, is not yet known. When asked, Barnes did not comment on the possible background to the crime. However, he emphasized that the police did not shoot. The family of the shooter is cooperating with the investigators, the police said.

Two pupils suffered life-threatening injuries, as Barnes announced at a press conference. One teacher and three other students were shot and are expected to survive. Two of those victims have been released from the hospital, Barnes said. During an earlier press conference, there had been "erroneous" talk of at least five deaths.

Police Chief Shon Barnes speaks to the media.

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Biden: "Shocking and unconscionable"
 The White House announced that US President Joe Biden had been informed of the situation in Madison. Biden called the act "shocking and unconscionable". He called on Congress to act and tighten gun laws. It is "unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence".

In the USA, fatal shootings are part of everyday life. Firearms are readily available and in wide circulation in the US. Major attacks, for example at schools, in supermarkets, in nightclubs or at large events, regularly lead to discussions about tightening gun laws - so far without any success. A substantial tightening of gun laws in the USA has been prevented by Republicans for years.

322 shootings at US schools this year
According to the website of the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 322 shootings at schools in the USA this year. That's the second-highest number since 1966, according to the database, surpassed only by last year's total of 349 shootings.

The top U.S. health official declared gun violence a national health crisis in June. According to authorities, thousands of people die each year from firearm-related injuries - whether caused by others or self-inflicted. Among children and young people, gun injuries are one of the most common causes of death.