LIVE: Police Provide Update on School Shooting in Madison, Wisconsin

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming. Thank you for being here today. We'll be providing additional update as we have moved now into the investigation phase of this tragic incident. I'll be making some prepared remarks and will not be taking questions. My name is Chief Sean Barnes s h o n b a r n e s chief of police for the Madison Police Department. The past 24 hours have been a flurry of emotion, sadness, anger, disappointment, grief for the Madison community. We're brought together by a tragedy today. Three families woke up this morning to a world without a loved one that can never be. In the midst of this tragedy, our community has come together in an incredible demonstration of support from Madison and indeed the state of Wisconsin and our nation. I cannot express enough gratitude to the many emergency response agencies who provided direct support to the Madison Police Department. We could not be standing here today without the men and women of law enforcement, specifically the Madison Fire Department surrounding E. M. S. Agencies, Dane County Sheriff's Office, Monona P. D. Oregon P. D. The University of Wisconsin Police Department, the A. T. F. The F. B. I. Fitchburg Police Department and Cottage Grove. A special thank you from me to all of these these agencies and many others responding to the scene and or took calls for service within the city of Madison to allow us to focus on this tragic incident. Student reunification with their loved ones could not have happened as swiftly as it did without the assistance of S. S. M. Health Dean Medical Clinic as well as the quick trip. Additionally, many people work well into the night and supported local restaurants. Community came together, provided food, other logistical support for our team. Yesterday we came together as one as one Madison as one country. We should feel incredibly proud about our response. I'll be providing some updates at this time. But before I do that, I'd like to provide clarification. Yesterday, after looking at the commute computer aided dispatch system, it seems as if a call came from a second grade. It actually read the call came from a second grade teacher. That was a mistake. That's my responsibility. And I apologize. And I clarify that today did not come from a second grader. It read second grade teacher. I will also be providing several investigative updates from the eight p.m. briefing from last night. The Madison Police Department is committed to transparency and will continue to release information that can be used to improve public safety. This must be balanced against our commitment to the victims of this horrific crime and the need to do a thorough and complete investigation. As a result, I recognize many of you may have questions that I cannot answer. At this time, I ask for you to keep the victims in your mind and respect their right to a thorough investigation. I also will not be taking questions at the conclusion of this press conference. But your pre submitted questions serve as the basis for updates that we're providing for you this afternoon. If your question is not answered, it is due to an ongoing investigation. We know a document has been widely shared on social media. At this time, we cannot verify this authenticity. We have detectives working today to determine where this document originated and who actually shared it online. At this time, we cannot verify the document. We ask that you not share the document or spread any information that may be false. Our department will provide an update on this document. There are always signs of a school shooting before it occurred. Some of you have reached out about right now's social media activity. Prior to yesterday's shooting, we're looking into her online activity. We're asking anyone who knew her or who may have insights into her feelings leading up to yesterday to please contact the Madison area crime stoppers again. Anyone who may have known her or knew what she was feeling or going through at that time. Please direct those inquiries to Madison area crime stoppers. That number is 6082666014 or at P three tips. P three tips will not be releasing specifics about these social media accounts at this time. Identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive was a combination of factors again. We cannot share that information at this time because we do not want to jeopardize the investigation and those who are currently cooperating with us. All patient status remain unchanged. The 911 calls or the record of the 911 communications center and their standing operating procedure is not to release documents in open and active investigations. Again, we are working to authenticate the documents that you see online that are referring to as a manifesto. And as soon as we do that, we will let you know. Now, the process for doing that is looking at original documents that may have been taken from the suspect's home, looking at information that may be on laptops or on computer to determine if this document originated from our suspect. Any disciplinary records would be under the purview of the school. Some of you have asked whether or not she was troubled, whether or not she was troubled at school. We do not have those records. We're not the proprietor of those on the question of bullying. We're talking to students to understand whether bullying was one of those multiple factors that I mentioned earlier. Some have asked if people were specifically targeted. Everyone was targeted in this incident. Everyone was put in equal danger today. Numerous M. M. S. D. Schools were targeted by false threats, often known as swatting. We're working closely with the Madison Metropolitan School District to determine where this originated and to investigate this call. We do not believe that there are any current threats to any Madison area schools and will continue to investigate these calls and any threats of violence as they come in. Let me be clear on this point. Making false threats is a crime, and we're working with the district attorney to prosecute these crimes as information is gathered. If we have to do that, we certainly will encourage all parents, all family members to talk to your your your loved ones about this. We will determine where they originated. We use federal partners if we have to and maybe those charges as we continue to investigate what happened yesterday. We're keeping the victims and their families in the front of our minds. We want to thank the countless people and organizations who reached out to support them as well as the Dane County Victim Witness Unit and the Dane County Emergency Management who provided direct support to the families to the Abundant Life Christian Academy. This is a hurting and haunting situation, and the many survivors will need our continued support. We pledge to give them that days, months and even years ahead. As a community, we must not allow violence or any act of violence to define us. We refuse to allow hate destruction to win in this city, but rather we will honor our survivors, our victims through love, support and the Madison Way. Please continue to take care of yourself and take care of each other. At this time, we have several officers who are working today who was working yesterday. They were given the opportunity to stay home. I'm going to refer to you as an administrator. They were offered peer support, emergency assistance programs throughout the city. Those officers chose to come to work today to serve their community. At the end of my remarks, I'm going to find each and every one of them personally shake their hand and thank them on behalf of Grateful City, the Grateful Administration, the Grateful Department and profession for their act of selfless public service. I want to start where the chief ended, which is just asking everyone in this room and within the sound of my voice to take a minute. It's been an incredibly difficult 24 plus hours at this point in time. We're all human, including each and every one of you in the media who is covering this really tragic event. Please remember that you're human and take care of yourselves. We all need to do that. Drink water. Take a moment. Access whatever mental health resources you need. Because that's our job now is to take care of ourselves so we can take care of each other and our community. Yesterday, the Madison community experienced a terrible and traumatic event. If there's any positive in it, it's that the educators at Abundant Life, our local law enforcement and first responders and our community partners were prepared to respond. They acted without hesitation to protect our Children, and I'm grateful and humbled by their actions. It's a day that I hoped never would come to our city, but like so many other communities, here we are. We will never be the same, but we will get through this. I want to ask again that everyone please respect the privacy of the victims, their families and those in the Abundant Life community. Right now, our full focus is on caring for those impacted. First and foremost, the victims and their families, the Abundant Life students and educators, our first responders, students and educators across the city who woke up this morning and went into a school building not knowing if they would come home tonight. The incredible bravery of that act. All of our students and educators are feeling scared and vulnerable right now. We are also trying to care for our whole community because I believe we are all fearful and grieving and impacted. City of Madison is working closely with Dane County, with community partners, with state and federal government resources to provide support and counseling to all those affected. I want to direct folks to a new city resource website that's available at cityofmadison.com slash resources, which includes trauma-informed community resources, updates, community mental health resources, and information about vigils, other public events, and where folks can donate to support the Abundant Life families in our community. I want to highlight two things that are also on that website. And once again, that website is cityofmadison.com slash resources. If you wish to support the families, the request is that that come in the form of financial support through a site set up by the United Way of Dane County. You can visit unitedwaydanecounty.org or you can text help4ALCS to 40403. Again, that's help4ALCS to 40403. The community is also invited to a vigil tonight by the Val Phillips statue at the Capitol at 6 p.m. Again, that's at the Capitol building by the Val Phillips statue at 6 p.m. I would ask that everyone, and particularly the folks in this room, please avoid spreading misinformation, particularly via social media. Please vet what you share, even if your wish to share is well-intentioned. There's so much that we do not know at this point, and we have to allow law enforcement the time and space for a careful and methodological investigation. Let them do their jobs. And above all, please respect the victims, respect the families, respect the school community, particularly on social media. I want to say a huge thank you again to all of our partners and those across the country who have reached out, offering support and well wishes, including President Biden, who I talked to yesterday, Senator Baldwin, who I talked to yesterday, Congressman Pocan, Governor Evers, who called, and many others at every level of government and all across our community. I want to thank most particularly our first responders and everyone who mobilized yesterday to help, and certainly Madison Police Department and the many law enforcement agencies that were mobilized, the Madison Fire Department, the Sheriff, the State Patrol, the FBI, the ATF. I want to thank our hospitals that cared for the victims and the medical staff there. I want to thank Dane County, in particular Emergency Management and the Victim Services Unit. They have been incredible. I want to thank SSM Health and the Dean Clinic. They, without hesitation, made their facility available to us. They canceled all appointments. They rearranged the facility. They put their staff at our disposal to make sure that the Abundant Life families could be reunited with their students. I couldn't be more grateful to them. I want to thank the United Way, both for setting up the donation site and for mobilizing resources across our community. I want to thank the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, the religious leaders who came to their unification site yesterday from across our community, and all of the community organizations and businesses that donated food and resources to the families and are still now offering support for our community. There are so many people who have offered support, resources, help, and well wishes, and we are grateful to every single one of them. I want to end where I started, which is centering our collective humanity. We all have to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of each other and our community. Whatever your belief or tradition is, I would ask that you find a way today, tomorrow, in the coming weeks, months, and years to be kind, to give grace, and to find ways, big or small, to help make our community a safer place for all of our children. Thank you, and I'll turn the podium to the County Executive. I'm sorry, I forget that you're not a local. My name is Satya Rhodes-Conway. I'm the Mayor of Madison. That's S-A-T-Y-A last name R-H-O-D-E-S hyphen C-O-N-W-A-Y. Satya Rhodes-Conway, Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm County Executive Melissa Agard, M-E-L-I-S-S-A-A-G-A-R-D. It's unfortunate that we are still having to navigate this absolutely horrific situation in our community. I come before you today as a community leader, as a mom, as a fellow Dane County resident, and, like many of you, someone who is continuing to process what unfolded yesterday at Abundant Life Christian School and across our community. My heart aches for the students and families and teachers and the first responders at all levels from the 9-1-1 officers to the folks that are in the coroner's office. Every single one of us has been impacted in an unimaginable reality by this situation. Our kids, my kids, teachers across our community and, in fact, across our nation had to wake up and go to school today and that was an act of bravery. Parents dropping their children off at what we, after what we witnessed yesterday took an act of bravery and a belief in our community. And that's a bravery we should not have to put on the shoulders of our children and our families and our community. Let me be clear. These everyday actions that we have all experienced over the last 24 plus hours should not require bravery. They should be routine and joyful. Especially at the end of the year, wrapping up a semester. Our kids should be laughing and learning and thinking about pajama day as they're heading into the holiday season. But right now, that's not the case. And right now, it's okay to not feel okay. It's how we move forward. And for some, the weight of this tragedy is overwhelming. I'm sure they're feeling sad and anxious and numb. We've heard that even from our police chief. And for others, they might just be feeling a little bit off. Unsettled by the images that our news coverage is delivering to them in the fast-breaking social media world. And it's playing on repeat. And I'm grateful for what it is that you all do. But this is impacting people in a different way. And I want you all to know and people across our community that their feelings are valid and they are not alone. Seeking support, talking to someone you trust, simply admitting that you're not okay is not a sign of weakness. It's actually a sign of strength. And whether you're feeling hopeless or scared or just not quite yourself, know that there are resources here in Dane County and in our community that will be here and continue to be here to support you in order to help people move forward through the healing process. Believe me, we are in this together. That is the Dane County way. That's what we do best. Through painful conversations and tears and hugs and vigils we're going to heal. We're not going to be the same but we're going to heal. Part of that process is setting aside complacency and demanding change. As someone who served 12 years in our legislature and had a front row seat to the inaction of addressing gun violence in our communities, I'm not stepping aside from that mission in my home. There's going to be public debate about the motives and other aspects of this mass shooting but let us remember this fact. Gun violence is the number one killer of children in this country. That's a legacy we cannot accept. We cannot accept that. Part of the reason I feel so pained by this tragedy is that mass shootings feel like something that's ominous and hovering and we're all wondering where and when the next one is going to occur. And guess what? It happened here. It happened right here. And I am so proud of the folks that I work with at the county and that the mayor works with in the city and our partners at the federal, state and local level and how it is that we've stepped up and responded to support people. Could we do better? Could we do different? I am sure. But did we do well? I am proud of the work that has been done in this community over the last 24 hours. And I assure you all today that we are going to continue to work like hell to stop future tragedies and to support our community that has been harmed by these actions. And for anyone that's out there listening, anywhere in this amazing world that we live, whether you're grieving or you're scared or you're angry or you're unsure or you're curious, take care of yourself, take care of the people who you love and whose lives you touch. Talk to someone. Anyone. If you're not comfortable calling a number, there is someone in your life you can reach out to. No one is alone through this. We are strong in Dane County and together we're going to get through this. And I know that there are questions that we all want answers to. And I am hopeful that we will have those answers sooner than longer. But please give us the time to do this right so that we can learn how to prevent this from happening in the future and support those that have been most impacted in our community. We are doing everything in our power at all levels in a collaborative way to prevent this type of pain from ever happening again in our community. Can I assure that? No. But we are going to work as best as we can to that end. So thank you to each of you for carrying these stories, for taking care of yourselves, and for delivering these messages to the people in our community that just want one more piece of information. Thank you for being here. The County Executive and I will take some questions. We obviously cannot answer questions about the investigation, but happy to take others and we'll turn to Dillon. Our laws in Wisconsin are far too lax when it comes to access of guns by children. And I do believe that we should have safe storage laws. We should have background checks. We should have red flag bills. We should be providing adequate support for everyone in our community. When it comes to behavioral health, people should not be waiting when they raise their hand and ask for help. And there should not be stigma surrounding people who are asking for that help. Our schools should be adequately funded. Our Department of Justice has an Office of School Safety. They don't have enough resources. And that is on the legislature. There is a lot of action that can be taken in the Wisconsin State Capitol, but this is a conversation that needs to happen from post to post. We need partners in our federal government to also address this, because states have borders and people can't cross them. You try. I think it depends, but we have a process within obviously both police and fire have public information officers who work with the principals to gather and vet information and share it out. Similarly in my office, we have a communications manager who works with us. In terms of the investigation, I can't really speak to that process, but there is a process within law enforcement to decide what information can be shared that won't jeopardize the investigation, and then to do our best to verify information before we're sharing it publicly. Obviously in an event like this, there is a lot of chaos and it can be difficult to parse out where information is coming from and how accurate it is at any given time. In a developing scene, sometimes we will share information that's not 100% correct, but as you've seen already, the chief comes back and tries to give out the best information we can and correct any mistakes. I think it's far too early to comment on that and as the investigation proceeds, I think law enforcement will take the steps necessary, but we don't know nearly enough yet.