A second-grade student called 911 to report a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, that left two people dead and six others injured, authorities said.
At a press conference Monday night, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes shared the heartbreaking detail. “A second-grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a shooting at school,” Barnes said. “It makes my heart skip a beat to think about that.”
Barnes explained that 911 dispatchers are trained to help children during emergencies, such as handling choking incidents, CPR, or childbirth. He believes the second-grader was not in the same room as the shooting but could clearly hear the gunshots.
The police chief praised both the teachers and students for their quick actions, like calling for a lockdown and the child dialing 911. “We teach our kids that if something’s wrong, call 911, and this child did just that,” Barnes said.
When officers arrived, they found a teenage student and a teacher had been killed. The shooter, who was also a teenage student, had shot herself and died later at the hospital.
Six others were injured: five students and one teacher. Two students were in critical condition at first but have since stabilized, while the others suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooting occurred during a study hall with students from different grade levels. Abundant Life Christian School is a private K-12 school with around 390 students, according to its website.