President Joe Biden prayed for the teacher and students killed in a school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday and called on Congress to take action to prevent the gun violence epidemic.

There was a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School that left two people dead – a student and a teacher – and six other students injured. The shooter was found dead.

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

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

According to the Madison Police Department, the other person who died was the suspected shooter.

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

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

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

“…and more BACKBONE to stand up to the gun manufacturers,” he said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is a problem unique to the United States that doesn’t need to happen.”

Biden’s full statement can be read below:

Today, families in Madison, Wisconsin, mourn the dead and wounded at Abundant Life Christian School. It is shocking and incomprehensible.

We need Congress to act. Now.

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

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

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

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