A 15-year-old girl killed a teacher and teen student in a shooting on Monday at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, and wounded six others, according to authorities.
Natalie Rupnow was identified as the shooter who opened fire inside a study hall inside Abundant Life Christian School, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Responding officers found Rupnow with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She died on the way to a hospital.
Police were speaking with Rupnow’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching Rupnow’s home, Barnes said. He declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.
“He lost someone as well,” Barnes said of Rupnow’s father. “And so we’re not going to rush the information. We’ll take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.”
Police said a 15-year-old shooter is dead after killing a teacher and student, and wounding six others, inside Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Barnes said officers responded just before 11 a.m. to a second-grade student’s 911 call reporting the shooting.
Rupnow used a handgun in the shooting, according to Barnes, though he said police have not yet determined a motive for the attack.
“I don’t know why, and I feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,” he told reporters.
Students walk to a bus as they leave the shelter following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The teacher and student that were killed in the shooting have not yet been identified.
Barnes said that of the six wounded in the shooting, two were students in critical condition. A teacher and three students were also hospitalized with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released.
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Barnes said he did not believe that the school, which serves 200 students, according to the school’s website, had a resource officer. It was also revealed that the school did not have metal detectors, but did have cameras and other security protocols.
Emergency vehicles are seen parked outside of the health clinic where parents were reunified with children after a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
President Biden spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway following the shooting, and issued a separate statement calling the event “shocking and unconscionable.”
“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said.
The FBI’s Milwaukee bureau says it has deployed agents to the scene to assist in investigating.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Stepheny Price and Bradford Betz, along with The Associated Press contributed to this report.
