Read President Joe Biden’s statement on Madison, Wisconsin, school shooting

President Joe Biden offered prayers for teacher and student killed in a school shooting on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, while urging Congress to take action to prevent the epidemic of gun violence.

a shooting occurred at the Vida Abundante Christian School, killing two people (a student and a teacher) and injuring six other students. the shooter was found dead.

In a statement, the president said his team has reached out to local officials to offer more support, while saying it is “unacceptable that we cannot protect our children from this scourge of gun violence.”

“We cannot continue to accept it as something normal,” said the president. “Every child deserves to feel safe in their classroom. Students across our country should learn to read and write, not have to learn to duck and cover.”

Additional measures are needed to prevent gun violence, he said, including common-sense gun safety laws, universal background checks, a national red flag law, as well as a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Biden’s comments follow similar sentiments from Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, as well as U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents the area in Congress.

“It is incredibly important that we take care of our community during this very difficult time; we all have a role in preventing gun violence,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Our entire community needs to be part of the solution here.”

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Meanwhile, Pocan called for elected officials to take more action.

“…And more BACKBONE to stand up to gun makers,” he said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is a uniquely American problem that doesn’t have to happen.”

Biden’s full statement can be read below:

Today, families in Madison, Wisconsin, are mourning the loss of those killed and injured at Abundant Life Christian School. It is shocking and inconceivable.

We need Congress to act. Now.

From Newtown to Uvalde, from Parkland to Madison, and so many other shootings that go unattended, it is unacceptable that we cannot protect our children from this scourge of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept it as something normal. Every child deserves to feel safe in their classroom. Students across our country should learn to read and write, not have to learn to duck and cover.

Jill and I are praying today for all the victims, including the teacher and teenage student who died and those who suffered injuries. We are grateful to first responders who quickly arrived on the scene and the FBI is supporting local law enforcement efforts. At my direction, my team has reached out to local officials to offer further support as needed.

My administration has taken aggressive steps to combat the gun violence epidemic. We passed the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, I have taken more executive actions to reduce gun violence than any president in history, and I created the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. But more is needed. Congress must pass common sense gun safety laws: universal background checks. A national red flag law. Ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families and tears apart entire communities.