School Of Bullets And Blood: Mass Shooting In Madison!

Only in America. Deadly mass shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin.

Another mass shooting at a school.

I normally do a long posting about the failures of Congress, President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald J. Trump, former president Barack Obama and former president George W. Bush. 

I am just going to flat out say it:

These idiots can't stop gun violence or Israel.

Another mass shooting in the United States and the usual remarks from legislators is "thoughts and prayers" or "my heart goes out to."

In the case of how Trump puts it, "we've got to get over it."

Or in the case of JD Vance, it's "a fact of life."

I am paraphrasing Trump and Vance but that is the shallow theme of his horrible legacy.

Y'all voted for this.

Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin reacts to the latest school shooting.

Madison, Wisconsin. 

Population of 313,000. The state capital.

Other mass shootings so far in 2024. Cities with multiple mass shootings in bold .

Philadelphia, Shreveport, Houston, Belan (NM), Lake Worth Beach (FL), Cicero (IL), Atlanta , Seattle, Theodore (AL), Lafayette (IN), Kalamazoo, Chicago, Red Springs (NC), Hollywood (FL ), New Orleans , Bradenton (FL), San Antonio, Jackson (TN), Miami, Denver , St. Louis , Columbus (OH), Sandy Hook (MS), Riverside (CA), Lancaster (CA), National City ( CA), San Diego, Albuquerque, Laurel (MS), Wichita, Tuskegee (AL), Lafayette (LA), Lynchburg (VA), Mount Joy (PA), Duluth (MN), Pittsburgh, Stillwater (OK), Detroit, Elkton (MD), Reno, New Haven, Northglenn (CO ) and Orlando.

560 mass shootings in the United States.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, President-elect Donald J. Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and the US House members of Wisconsin were notified.

Suspect is a 15 year old girl.

The shooter took her life and a few others. The shooter opened fire with a handgun Monday at a Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teenager during the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said.

This is the normal.

The shooter also wounded six others at Abundant Life Christian School, including two students who were in critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. A teacher and three students had been taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them had been released by Monday evening.

“Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. ...We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened,” Barnes said.

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, which it had done just before the school year, leaders always announce that it is a drill. That didn't happen Monday.

“When they heard, 'Lockdown, lockdown,' they knew it was real,” she said.

The shooter was a 17-year-old female student, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The officer was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Police said the shooter was dead by apparent suicide when officers arrived. Barnes declined to give details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family. With a few rare exceptions, a 17-year-old can't legally possess a gun in Wisconsin.

Barnes said investigators may have enough information to release more detail about the shooter at another press conference later Monday.

Republicans support gun rights and mass shootings.

He also warned people against sharing unconfirmed reports on social media about the shooter's identity.

“What that does is it helps erode the trust in this process,” he said.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — prekindergarten through high school — with approximately 420 students in Madison, the state capital.

Wiers said the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras.

Children and families were reunited at a medical building about a mile away. Parents pressed children against their chests while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side. One girl was comforted with an adult-size coat around her shoulders as she moved to a parking lot teeming with police vehicles.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, but Barnes said they're talking to the parents of the suspected shooter and they are cooperating. He also said he didn't know if the people shot had been targeted.

“I don't know why, and I feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,” he told reporters.

A search warrant had been issued Monday to a Madison home, he said.

Someone from the school called 911 to report an active shooter shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an ongoing emergency, Barnes said. They arrived 3 minutes after the initial call and went into the building immediately.

Classes had been taking place when the shooting happened, Barnes said. He declined to say where exactly in the school it happened.

Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told the AP. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Police blocked off roads around the school, and federal agents were at the scene to assist local law enforcement. No shots were fired by police.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post.

Wiers said the school's goal is to have staff get together early in the week and have community opportunities for students to reconnect before the winter break, but it's still to be decided whether they will resume classes this week.

Biden and Harris tried to warn America.

Bethany Highman, the mother of a student, rushed to the school and learned over FaceTime that her daughter was OK.

“As soon as it happened, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,” Highman said. “There's nobody around you. “You just bolt for the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your kids.”

In a statement, President Joe Biden cited the tragedy in calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and certain gun restrictions.

“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said. He spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and offered their support.

Evers said it's “unthinkable” that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.

The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the US in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.

The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.

Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.

Rhodes-Conway said the country needs to do more to prevent gun violence.

“I hoped that this day would never come to Madison,” she said.

A bullet doesn't care about color. We all bleed red and so many lives are lost to gun violence and Republicans offer no solutions other than "thoughts and prayers" with a touch of "lock em up."

Lives are always altered when gun violence happens.

An active shooter doesn't care about the politics, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, your finances, your family, your plans that day, your successes, your failures, and most importantly, your life.

You're not safe in the school, the concert, the hospital, the church, the casino, the bus station, the subway, the light rail train, the buses, the malls, the local big box store, the political rally, the protest rally, the women's center for reproductive surgeries, the mosque, the synagogue, the state buildings, the workplace, the gas station, the family picnic, the food truck rally, the funerals, the birthday parties, the graduations, the wedding, the televised events, the sporting events and many more events that have some terrorist with a firearm. Domestic violence, suicide, racism, culture war inspired, politically motivated and international operative inspired are types of gun violence.

Gun violence is the number one threat in the United States.

I dismiss this ridiculous notion that criminals are the problem, not the guns. Firearms are often obtained through legal purchases. 

Again, having more security, teachers being armed and offering safe rooms are not solving the problem. The problem is legislators not willing to stop gun violence.

According to the  far right :  White shooters are mentally ill. Black shooters are unrepentant thugs and criminals. Gay shooters are active groomers. Muslim shooters are terrorists. Hispanic and Asian shooters are illegal immigrants. According to the far right, almost all white [or non-white] mass shooters are registered Democrats [or some progressive activist] because they have liked or done one thing common to the left. Of course, they often share or post disinformation by using the "Sam Hyde" meme or make bogus social media platforms with the shooter's image as a way to denounce most mass shooters being white or associated with conservative causes. The far right says a white person should "protect" themselves from thugs, terrorists or protesters. They believe the use of firearms are "justified" if they are protesting or even instigating a conflict. The far right believes if a shooter is a police officer, an active military member, a veteran or a citizen who supports conservative causes, they are considered a "heroes" and use of firearms are justified. If the shooters are teens in urban communities, the far right automatically assumes the gunmen are Black.

The Republicans usually amplify white victims. Anytime a person of color kills a white victim, it is often wall-to-wall coverage on Fox, Twitter and they force it into national news. They make the case to blame Black Lives Matter, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Democrats, Rev. Al Sharpton and rap music for Black on whatever violence. Republican legislators who do not live in urban neighborhoods often troll social media to talk about gun violence or crime in Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee and New York City while not doing a damn thing to stop it. If a white person shoots a Black person, the shooter is given the benefit of doubt. White shooters are given glowing profiles about their perfect lives and how friends noticed something but refused to do something. When it comes to Black shooters, automatic vilification. They don't see mental illness. They see it as gang violence, allegedly fatherless homes, Democratic policies or the need for more firearms. 

The far right and Republicans exploit gun violence in the Black community for culture wars and racism.

An image of the school shooter. 

So in closing, expect more.

The website  Officer Down  is a memorial to those police officers who were killed in the line of duty. Those victims who don't get their names or accomplishments mentioned in the junk food media. Also the website the  National Gun Violence Memorial  also keeps record of the  many individuals  killed by  gun violence . We are  tracking police violence  as well. 

Call the  National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline)  at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or  988 , or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend's social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline's website or the Crisis Text Line's website.

The call number to the White House and US Capitol is now going to be used. This is the official White House numbers 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414. This is the Congress official phone number, 202-224-3121. Please be respectful to operators, staff members and elected leaders. Your calls are monitored by the US Secret Service and US Capitol Police. 

Let them know that "thoughts and prayers," "hearts going to" and "good guys with guns" are no longer acceptable and you want legislation to curb gun violence. Let them know that we are tired of police officers using immunity when committing death of suspects in custody. Let them know that you are tired of private equity firms getting away with destroying small businesses and long established companies. Let them know that you are tired of your taxpayer money going to foreign nations like Israel. You are tired of hearing about "Israel having a right to..." and the bogus claims of being anti-Semitic or in support of terrorism. 

We have bigger issues at home and our tax dollars should solve the housing crisis, lowering food prices, fixing roads, bridges, helping reinvest in struggling urban and rural communities. We have hospitals closing, big box retailers leaving communities and television programs dying. There are bigger issues in the country than Israel. You want an immediate ceasefire and accountability for war crimes done by Israel. You want no more foreign influence in American elections. You also want to make sure future presidents and legislators avoid influence from lobbyists.