A 15-year-old student killed two people, injured six others, and died in a shooting at a private K-12 school in Madison, Wisconsin, police said Monday.
The shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School around 11 a.m.
Police identified Natalie Rupnow as the shooter, but have yet to reveal a motive.
Six people were taken to nearby hospitals after the shooting with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening.
“I’m asking everyone to send your heartfelt wishes and prayers, and thoughts, yet again, to a community — but this time it’s my community,” Madison Police Department Chief Shon Barnes told reporters.
Who is the suspected shooter?
Police identified 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, a student at the school, as the shooter.
Rupnow’s family is cooperating with police.
The teen’s father was speaking with police Monday evening, in what Barnes called a “long conversation.”
“We have no reason to believe they have committed a crime at this time,” Barnes said on Monday of the family.
The chief urged the public to disregard fast-moving, unverified online speculation that the shooter was transgender.
“I dont think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she, or he, or they may have wanted to identify,” Chief Barnes said. “I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this. We have people who have yet another school shooting in Madison. That’s where my focus will be for the very near future.”
Did the suspected shooter attend the school?
The suspected shooter is believed to have attended Abundant Life Christian School, according to police.
The police official said it appeared Rupnow was present at the school the morning of the shooting.
“We believe the shooter was at school,” Barnes. “We have no information that there was some kind of breach at the school.”
The private school, founded in 1978, has roughly 400 students. The school’s website describes it as a “community Christian school with the vision of providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment for families in the greater Dane County area.”
Who are the victims?
Officials said the victims were a student and a teacher at the school, though police have yet to release further identifying details about those killed and wounded.
Of the six people injured in the shooting, two are in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, and four sustained non-life-threatening wounds, Barnes added.
Two of the four who sustained lesser injuries have been released from the hospital, Barnes said later on Monday.
How did the shooting take place?
The shooting took place inside of a study hall room where students of multiple grades were present.
A second grader was the one who called 911 and alerted police to the shooting.
Officers arrived at the school about three minutes after the 911 call and immediately entered the school.
What kind of weapon was used in the shooting?
A handgun was recovered at the scene of the shooting, Barnes said. Officials are working to trace the source of the weapon.
Police do not yet know how Rupnow obtained the weapon.
Has a motive been identified?
Police do not know whether the shooting had a specific target or motive.
“Whether they were targeted or not would speak to motivation, and we don’t know that answer just yet,” Barnes said.
How is the community reacting?
The shooting hit a community that has already seen mass gun violence this year, after a dozen people were wounded over the summer in a shooting at a rooftop party in Madison.
Madison Mayor Satya-Rhodes Conway said on Monday the incident was “an incredibly sad day for our community” and a reminder of the need for reform to stop gun violence.
“I am on record that I think we need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence,” she said at a press conference. “And I hoped that this day would never come in Madison.”
Wisconsin congressman Representative Mark Pocan had a similar message after the shooting.
“Thoughts and prayers without action means more school shootings, more dead kids. More ACTION is needed by our elected officials. And more BACKBONE to stand up to gun manufacturers,” he wrote on X. “This is uniquely a United States problem that doesn’t have to happen.”
Barnes said Monday: “We have to use our resources when we see things that may being going wrong or someone who may be going off the beaten path. That’s the charge really to our country now, and we have to do a better job of taking care of each other.”
He said that all of the children at the school had been reunited with their parents. “The children are now the latest group of survivors of a school shooting,” he noted.
Local residents were shocked by the shooting.
“I didn’t want to believe it. First I thought it was an accident,” Gary Herrmann, who lives nearby, told WMTV. “And then when I heard shooter, that’s when it really hit me.”
A vigil is planned tomorrow at the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison.
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