Madison, Wisconsin, first responders were in training when a school shooting occurred – NBC Chicago

First responders in Madison, Wisconsin, were taking part in a training session Monday morning when a school shooting occurred nearby, authorities said.

A student and a teacher were killed and six students were injured when a teenage student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school that serves about 250 families on the city’s east side, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. The shooter was found dead by authorities, police said.

Barnes said the shooting happened around 10:57 a.m., just as paramedics were training at the Madison Police Department’s training center – less than three miles away.

“They immediately left the training center and came here and did what they were actually training for in real time,” he said. “And that’s why training is so important and why we need to make sure we can provide our community members with the best possible training and the best possible response.”

The police chief said training for such events occurs “on an ongoing basis,” noting that fire and police commanders have attended a separate training session over the past two weeks.

Madison police and local officials shared more details Monday after a fatal shooting at Abundant Life Christian School.

“And all of that came into play today, and our officers performed exceptionally well because of their training and the expectation that they know exactly what to do,” Barnes said. “Stop the threat, stop the killing, find the threat.”

Mass casualty training is something “we had hoped we would never have to put into practice again,” said Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon.

A possible motive for the shooting remained unclear late Monday afternoon.

Barnes said police were working to find out “as many answers as possible” while interviewing witnesses and securing search warrants to obtain additional information.

“Many of you have asked me why,” the police chief said. “Why did this happen? What do we know? What was the motivation? I don’t know, but I’ll tell you this: Our detectives are working hard in the investigative process to find out as many answers as possible so we can continue to prevent things like this from happening, not just in this community, but in other communities in our country.”