Wisconsin students call for change days after deadly Madison school shooting

More than 100 Madison high schoolers marched 2 miles through snowy streets on Friday morning to call for solutions to gun violence and mental health access, four days after a deadly shooting at a private Christian school left three dead, including the shooter.

A few hours into their school day, the students left their classrooms at Madison West High School, 10 miles from Abundant Life Christian School where the shooting took place. They walked to the state Capitol where they joined students from other area schools and denounced lawmakers’ inaction on firearm legislation and funding for mental health support in schools. 

They described a pervasive fear of being targeted in their own hallways, talking about childhoods spent learning how to lock down in the face of violent threats. 

“I just want to say that I am fed up,” said Aharon Shelef, 18, a senior at Madison West.

“I am fed up with the fact that, because this happens so often, whenever we learn of yet another school shooting, basically everyone continues with their lives like business as usual. I am fed up with the fact that guns are the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in our country, so we can’t just go to school or live our lives without worrying if we are next,” he continued.

Students came from several different high schools. Among them was Abby Johns, a 15-year-old sophomore from Abundant Life. As students took turns speaking on the steps of the Capitol, her father, Jason Johns, stood nearby. He said his daughter had heard the gunshots on Monday and huddled in a classroom — and that he spent more than an hour unsure of whether she was OK. 

“It’s obviously something that you never think would happen, right?” he said. “You know it could. You know it could happen. But then you kind of push that out of your brain and say to yourself, ‘Yeah, but it won’t, right?’ Well, it did, and it was a terrifying time.”

Johns said he and his wife have let their daughter lead the conversation about how she is processing what she saw and heard on Monday. And he said it’s led them to have new conversations about his own experience with violence as a combat veteran. 

“I was speaking with her about that for the first time the other day, just to let her know that, with time and with help, it will get better,” he said. “It’s never going to go away. It’s always going to be with you the rest of your life. But to give her that perspective — and I’ll tell you what, there was a conversation I never thought I’d have with my kid.”

State lawmakers Rep. Francesca Hong and Rep. Shelia Stubbs, both Democrats, briefly joined the students and said they would work to address gun violence.

“Because my colleagues and politicians across the country refuse to take action on gun violence and safety, we are endorsing mass murder,” Hong said.

Then the students marched inside the Capitol building, where their chants echoed off marble walls draped with festive holiday decorations.

Milwaukee church, civic leaders also call for gun control

On the day of the Abundant Life school shooting, Milwaukee high school junior Giselle Grob-Polewski said she was getting text messages from her friends at Golda Meir School that they were in the middle of a lock-down due to shooting threats.

“The truth is, when I heard about both of these incidents, it was like hearing about snow in December,” Grob-Polewski said. “This constant, expected shooting in American schools has permanently desensitized children my age to gun violence.”

“Most people that hear this incredibly common news notification don’t actually have to go to school the next day. I do, and so does every single teenager in America,” she added.

Grob-Polewski, who attends Milwaukee High School of the Arts, is a member of the Student & Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Youth Advisory Board. 

She was part of a group of speakers Friday at Milwaukee City Hall during a gun violence prevention press conference organized by the 80% Coalition. 

The coalition includes more than 35 advocacy, business, faith, health and mental health organizations in Wisconsin.

Darryl Morin, president of Forward Latino, said as a parent, he had a sick feeling in his stomach when he heard about the school shooting on Monday.

“Like so many other parents, my first question was, ‘Is that my children’s school?’” Morin said. 

Grob-Polewski said gun violence is why young people are terrified to go to school. 

“We are begging for help,” she said. “We don’t have the ability to vote and change this. Teenagers have no choice but to sit back and watch the news and wait for our school to be the next one.”