A 15-year-old girl fatally shoots a teacher and a teenager at a Christian school in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A 15-year-old student opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and a teenager and prompting a swarm of police officers to descend on the school in response to a second grader's 911 call.

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

“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.

Police said the shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived and died en route to a hospital. Barnes declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.

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

Barbara Wiers, the school's director of elementary and school relations, said when they practice safety routines, leaders always announce that it's a drill. That didn’t happen Monday, just a week before Christmas break.

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

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

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, nor was it clear if the victims were targeted, Barnes said.

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

Barnes said police were talking with the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter's home.

“He lost someone as well," Barnes said of the shooter's father. "And so we’re not going to rush the information. We’ll take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.”

The first 911 call to report an active shooter came in shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the initial call.

Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. 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.

Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the school. Parents pressed children against their chests while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post. Wiers said they're still deciding whether they will resume classes this week.

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 his 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 U.S. 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.

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Ed White, Josh Funk and Hallie Golden and photographer Morry Gash contributed to this report.

Police walk outside the Abundant Life Christian School following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Families leave the SSMI Health Center, set up as a reunification center, following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

A family leaves the SSMI Health Center, set up as an reunification center, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

A family leaves the SSMI Health Center, set up as an reunification center, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Emergency vehicles are staged outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Police investigate as emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

A police officer directs traffic as emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Bus carrying students leave as emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

A child is embraced at the SSMI Health Center, set up as a reunification center, following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Students aboard a bus as they leave the shelter following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Families leave the SSMI Health Center, set up as a reunification center, following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

A family leaves the Abundant Life Christian School after a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Students aboard a bus as they leave the shelter following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

A family leave the shelter after multiple injuries were reported following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

SAINT-DENIS, Reunion (AP) — An overnight curfew goes into force Tuesday evening as authorities try to stabilize Mayotte in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, the most intense storm to hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago in 90 years.

The French military said it is sending four to five planes a day with up to 50 tons of assistance, including food, water and medicine. Hundreds of military personnel have arrived in Mayotte since the weekend.

The official death toll from Saturday's cyclone rose to 22, with more than 1,400 people injured including 48 critically, according to the latest report from Mayotte Hospital quoted by Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital, Mamoudzou.

However, authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.

“The priority today is water and food,” Soumaila told RFI radio, adding that "there are people who have unfortunately died where the bodies are starting to decompose that can create a sanitary problem.

The curfew requires people to stay in their homes between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. each night as authorities try to prevent looting of damaged buildings.

“We don’t have electricity. When night falls, there are people who take advantage of that situation,” Soumaila said.

Speaking on France Inter radio Tuesday morning, Mayotte lawmaker Estelle Youssouffa described the challenges in accounting for victims, especially among undocumented migrants.

“The real toll of those swept away by the mud, winds and tin from shanty towns will never be known,” Youssouffa said. “This population, by definition undocumented migrants, are the main victims of this tragedy because they feared going to shelters.”

Youssouffa shared a harrowing account from an imam she spoke to on Monday, who reported burying more than 30 people in a single day in La Vigie, a makeshift settlement.

“I don’t even know if these figures are included in the official count,” Youssouffa said.

Soumaila, Mamoudzou’s mayor, said he planned to visit areas hit hardest by the cyclone on Tuesday, where survivors are still reeling from the destruction. Nearly 70% of Mayotte’s population has been gravely affected, with entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble.

Aid efforts continue, with French military aircraft delivering water and food daily. However, power outages and communication disruptions persist, leaving many without basic necessities. The island’s main hospital remains severely damaged, and a field hospital is expected to arrive Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to visit Mayotte soon and to declare a national mourning period. Meanwhile, an initial 655,000 euros ($687,000) was released by a government decree to finance urgent needs on the island.

Cyclone Chido is the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century, underscoring the vulnerability of the island’s impoverished population.

The hurricane is also threatening to deepen the political crisis on the French mainland. Less than a week after taking office, newly appointed Prime Minister François Bayrou has come under heavy criticism from across the political spectrum for his perceived mishandling of the emergency.

Bayrou did not travel to Mayotte and did not attend in person a crisis meeting, opting instead to chair a town hall meeting in the city of Pau, where he is the mayor. Bayrou took part in the crisis meeting via video.

Bayrou responded that the interior minister was in Mayotte and that the two were taking decisions together. He insisted he is busy trying to form a government. Bayrou was appointed prime minister by Macron last week after a historic parliamentary vote toppled the previous government.

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Nouvian reported from Paris.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

This satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows damage of Collège de Kwalé on the French Territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean after Cyclone Chido, Dec. 16, 2024. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

This photo provided on Monday Dec. 16, 2024 by the Civil Security shows rescue workers clearing a street in French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (UIISC7/Securite Civile via AP)

French civil security personnel load pallets of water on a transport plane for Mayotte from Saint Denis on Reunion Island, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

This undated photo provided on Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows a devastated part of the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (Ministere de l'Interieur/ Securite Civile via AP)

This photo provided on Monday Dec. 16, 2024 by the Civil Security shows part of the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (UIISC7/Securite Civile via AP)

This photo provided by the French Interior Ministry Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, shows debris in a street in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. Survivors wandered through streets littered with debris, searching for water and shelter, after Cyclone Chido leveled entire neighborhoods on Saturday when it hit Mayotte, the poorest territory of France. (Ministere de l'Interieur/DICOM via AP)

This undated photo provided on Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows a devastated part of the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. (Ministere de l'Interieur/ Securite Civile via AP)