MADISON, Wis. — Three people are dead, including the shooter, and six were injured in a shooting Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, police reported.

The shooting happened shortly before 11 a.m. CT, police spokesperson officer Stephanie Fryer said in a statement.

Dozens of first responders have descended on the scene, and at least three ambulances could be seen transporting the injured.

A person is comforted outside Abundant Life Christian School Monday morning. 

Here's what we know so far:

‘These children are now the latest group of survivors of a school shooting’

Madison’s police chief ended the agency’s third press conference of the day by asking people to focus their attention on the Abundant Life Christian School community.

“These children are now the latest group of survivors of a school shooting,” Barnes said. “This time, unfortunately, in Madison, Wisconsin.”

School officials have not yet decided if classes will start up again this week. Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations for Abundant Life Christian School, said Monday began the last week of school prior to winter break.

She said their goal is to get the school’s staff together early in the week and then try to have some community opportunities for the students to reconnect.

Students ‘handled themselves magnificently,’ school official says

Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations for Abundant Life Christian School, said students “handled themselves magnificently.”

She said when the school practices safety routines, leaders always announce that it is a drill. That didn’t happen on Monday.

“When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,” she said.

Wiers said just before the school year, they had done a retraining with the Madison Police Department, so it was “very fresh for faculty.”

“This has obviously rocked our school community,” she said.

Wiers said the school has a total of 420 K-12 students. The school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras, she said.

Shooter was a 17-year-old girl

The Associated Press is reporting that the shooter, who died in the school Monday, was a 17-year-old girl.

Parent frustrated by lack of information

3:21 p.m. | More than three hours after the shooting, Rob Nelson was still waiting to be unified with his two children but had spoken with his 14-year-old daughter, Olive, a freshman, who had texted him about the shooting.

He said students from the school were taken out the school and taken across the parking lot to the church.

“She had messaged me that her school was on lockdown and that she had heard gunshots," he said. "She heard pops and bangs that sounded like a gun, and Olive is very familiar; we are a hunting family. But she said she was safe but was not sure about my son.”

Nelson eventually heard from his 12-year-old son, Charles, a few hours later because his seventh grade son’s phone had been in his locker.

“He said he was also OK, and I can tell you that that was the roughest two hours of my life,” Nelson said. “The kids will not be going back to school here.”

Parents entering Dean Clinic were required to go through metal detectors and sign in and each were issued a white name tag with their name hand-written in black marker. Parents "were packed into a small room” and given very little information, Nelson said during a break in which he walked to a nearby Kwik Trip.

“It’s a lot of disappointment in there with the amount of information that has been given,” he said. “I had no alerts, no other information. My phone never rang, and it’s a small, little private school.”

Shooter used handgun; home being searched

3:06 p.m. | The shooter used a handgun, Barnes said, adding that all the gunfire occurred in one area of the school.

The person was dead by the time police arrived, he said, adding that police are searching the shooter’s home. The shooter's parents are cooperating with investigation, Barnes said.

Biden, Evers monitoring response

1:20 p.m. | Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said in a post on X he is closely monitoring the situation at Abundant Life Christian School.

“We are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information and are grateful for the first responders who are working quickly to respond,” Evers said.

“My sincere condolences and prayers for all the victims of the tragedy at Abundant Life Christian School,” U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, said in a post on X.

“Action not only prayers, Senator. Action!,” U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, said in response to Johnson’s post.

President Joe Biden has also been briefed on the shooting and senior White House officials are in communications with local officials in Madison to provide support as needed, the White House said.

Barnes: 'My heart is heavy for Madison'

1:00 p.m. | "Today is a sad, sad day, not only for Madison, but for our entire country," Barnes said. "Another police chief is doing a press conference to speak about violence in our community, specifically in one of the places that's most sacred to me as someone who loves education and to someone who has children that are in school.

"I'm feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas, 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, and we need to figure out, try to piece together, what exactly happened right now, my heart is heavy for my community. My heart is heavy for Madison."

Update: 3 dead, 5 injured

Madison police corrected the number of casualties in Monday's school shooting, confirming that three people are dead, including the shooter, and five have been injured.

A police spokesperson earlier misstated the number of dead.

Shooter was student

12:30 p.m. | Madison police have just confirmed that shooter, whose name has not yet been disclosed, was a student at the school and is dead. The chief declined to say how the shooter died but said police did not fire their weapons.

At least seven others are injured. Their injuries range from minor to life-threatening.

Police chief Shon Barnes to address media

12:18 p.m. | Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes is expected to address the media shortly.

First responders meanwhile were trying to redirect parents and other family members from the school to the reunification point at the Dean clinic four blocks to the west, at East Buckeye and Stoughton roads. Some parents, unable to get through on Buckeye, have attempted to reach the school via side streets and have been referred to the clinic.

Abundant Life chief: 'We're praying hard'

11:50 a.m. | Chuck Moore, the executive director of the Madison nonprofit that runs Abundant Life and five other Christian schools, said he's had no communication from the school and didn't know whether the shooter and victims were part of the school community.

"We've had no communication from the school yet. We've been told we shouldn't go there," he said. "We've got emails and texts out. When it's appropriate, I'm sure we'll hear something. Of course you don't know who's been hurt."

He did not know where Abundant Life students and staff were as of just before noon. The school has about 390 students, from kindergarten through high school, according to its website.

Today was a regular school day for the school, which has about 420 students and about 25 to 30 staff, Moore said. The five other schools that are part of the nonprofit, Impact Christian Schools, were put into a "soft lockdown," he said.

"We're praying hard for them and we're communicating with the rest of our schools," he said.

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