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3 people including suspect dead after school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, police say
At least two people were killed and six others injured in a shooting at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, police said.
The shooter, a 15-year-old female student, died on the way to a hospital of what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said during a news conference on Monday night.
According to police, the shooting occurred in a classroom during study hall. The two people killed were a teenage student and a teacher. A second grader made the first 911 call. “Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes said.
Barnes declined to confirm a motive but said police were investigating.
At least six others were injured and transported to area hospitals: two students in critical condition with life-threatening injuries and four students with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Earlier, police erroneously reported that five people were dead, including the shooter, and five others were injured. Police updated the death and injury toll shortly after the initial news conference: “Three are deceased. Nine in total were injured, including the three deceased.”
Abundant Life Christian School is a private K-12 school located about five miles east of the Wisconsin State Capitol. Police have asked people to avoid the area. There are no threats to the community or other area schools at this time, Barnes said.
The suspect’s family is cooperating with investigators, Barnes said.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, officials said. Police did not fire their weapons when responding to the shooting, Barnes said.
“To be honest, I’m feeling a little dismayed,” the police chief told reporters when asked how he’s feeling. “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. … My heart is heavy for my community. My heart is heavy for Madison.”
Barnes said he is not aware of any metal detectors at the school. He noted that because the school is private, it does not fall under the authority of the Madison Metropolitan School District.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said, “There are no words to describe the devastation and heartbreak we feel today after the school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison this morning.”
“As a father, a grandfather, and as governor, it is unthinkable that a kid or an educator might wake up and go to school one morning and never come home,” he said. “This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a foregone reality or stop working to change it.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Hayley Miller is the senior blog editor for BLN. Previously, she was a senior reporter on HuffPost’s breaking news team. Before she was a reporter, she was a senior editor on HuffPost’s blog team.
The Dictatorship
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The suspect in an attack at a synagogue near Detroit lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon this month, according to the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn and community leaders.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, lost his two brothers and a niece and nephew in the strike on their home, according to those sources. Whether that played a role in the motive for the attack remains unclear, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer deferred a question about it to the FBI on Friday, citing an ongoing investigation.
Authorities are looking at the possibility Ghazali may have had familial ties to Hezbollah in Lebanon, two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told MS NOW.
Ghazali died in the Thursday attack, in which authorities say he drove a car into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, injuring a security officer. Ghazali was a resident of Dearborn Heights, Mayor Mo Baydoun said in a Facebook post. Baydoun also said in that post that Ghazali “lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon” this month.
The Thursday attack in Michigan came as the U.S. and Israel wage a war with Iranwhich they launched on Feb. 28. Security around Jewish communities in places such as New York has been heightened since the conflict began.
Ghazali first came to the U.S. in 2011 on a spousal visa before being granted citizenship in 2016, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said.
In a phone interview with Fox host Brian Kilmeade, President Donald Trump appeared to blame former President Joe Biden for Ghazali’s entry into the country when asked about the Michigan attack and the deadly shooting at Old Dominion University in Michigan.
“They came in a lot through Biden, and they came in through other presidents, frankly, and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said.
Temple Israel describes itself as the country’s largest Jewish Reform congregation, and it also has an early childhood education center on site that more than 100 kids attend, Whitmer said. All children were safely evacuated following the attack, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
“This is targeting babies who are Jewish,” Whitmer said. “That’s antisemitism at its absolute worst.”
The security guard who was injured was hospitalized but is expected to recover.
Whitmer on Friday thanked the synagogue’s security personnel, who she said “were selfless in their courage and they saved lives.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., added that if the synagogue’s private security, local law enforcement and first responders “had not all done their jobs almost perfectly, we would be talking about an immense tragedy here today with children gone.”
Andrew Bossone and Chris O’Leary contributed to this report.
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.
Marc Santia is an investigative correspondent for MS NOW.
The Dictatorship
Missile strikes a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraqi security officials say
BAGHDAD (AP) — A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, two Iraqi security officials said.
Associated Press footage showed a column of smoke rising Saturday morning over the embassy compound.
The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”
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