A teenage student opened fire at a school in the northern US state of Wisconsin, killing two and injuring several others before being found dead, officials said.
Shon Barnes, police chief in the state capital Madison, told a news conference that a teacher and a teenage student died at the Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school for children aged five to 18.
He declined to share the gender or exact age of the suspect, who attended the school of around 400 pupils, saying "as difficult as today is, that's still someone's child that's gone."
Two students were being treated for life-threatening injuries, while four others were in hospital in a non-critical condition.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, he said, adding that the suspect's family was cooperating with the police investigation.
The violent episode is the latest in a long line of school shootings in the US, where guns outnumber people and attempts to restrict access to firearms face perennial political deadlock.
US President Joe Biden condemned the "shocking and unconscionable" shooting at a school in Wisconsin, saying the incident underscored yet again the need for tighter gun laws.
"We need Congress to act. Now," he said in a statement.
Underlining the commonplace nature of mass shootings, Mr Barnes said that some medical personnel responding to Abundant Life came directly from training for such an event.
"I think we can all agree that enough is enough," he said.
"We have to come together to do everything we can to support our students, to prevent press conferences like these from happening again and again and again."
Horror of school shootings
Police were alerted to the shooting by someone at the school shortly before 11am (5pm Irish time).
"When officers arrived, they found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds" and also "located a juvenile who they believe was responsible for this, deceased in the building," Mr Barnes said.
"We believe the shooter was a student at the school," he added, saying police officers "never fired their weapons."
Mr Barnes said: "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."
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a statement that "we are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information."
Video posted from the scene on social media showed a massive emergency response, including police, ambulance and fire vehicles.
There have been 322 school shootings this year in the US, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database website.
That is the second highest total of any year since 1966, according to that database - topped only by last year's total of 349 such shootings.
The epidemic of shootings has afflicted public and private schools alike in urban, suburban and rural communities.
Some have taken place in Christian schools. In March 2023, a former student at Covenant School, a private academy in Nashville, killed three children and three adults before being shot dead by law enforcement officers.
Last year, two students aged five and six were shot at Feather River Adventist School near Oroville, California, by a gunman who later took his own life.
