David Wagner, who was principal of Abundant Life Christian School for 16 years until 1998, said “it was a shock” to learn about the shooting at the school he once led.
“My three kids went there, my wife taught there. … At first I thought it must be wrong. It must not be Abundant Life Christian School, my school in Madison,” Wagner told NBC News.
“A shooting — it can be anywhere, it can be at a mall, it can be at a home — is a tragedy,” he said. “But when it gets to your school, at your place, then all of a sudden you put names into the situation, you put faces into the situation, people that you know. That’s when it really hits home.
“It was unbelievable, just unbelievable. It just broke my heart to think about that,” he added.
Wagner said the school was a close-knit community when he led it. He said he hired the current principal and still knows teachers there.
He said that in his time leading the school, there was no protocol for shootings, as they weren’t as prevalent, and he called their proliferation “a tragedy in itself.”
“Leaving in 1998, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a school shooting at that time. That was not part of our preparation or protocol,” he said. “We did all the fire drills, tornado drills and other safety drills. We worked together with the police department, the fire department, just to make sure that our building had all the necessary means for those kinds of situations.”
His message to the community is to “persevere” and “continue to hold their faith.”
“This is a tragic situation that will bring change to not only the school, but to everybody who is a part of that family,” Wagner said. “My heart is with you. I grieve. My heart is broken with them.” He urged community members to “wrap their hearts around those who need a hug and to share a word of encouragement to those around them.”
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