Madison: A 15-year-old student opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher, a teenager, and prompting a rush of police officers who responded to a 911 call from a second grader.
Monday’s shooting at Abundant Life Christian School left six other people injured, including two students in critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shawn Barnes said. A teacher and three students were taken to hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released.
Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will always be a victim. … We have to find out and try to piece together exactly what happened,” Barnes said.
Police said the shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when authorities arrived and died on the way to the hospital. Barnes declined to offer further details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school prekindergarten through high school with approximately 420 students in the state capital, Madison.
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said that when they practice safety routines, leaders always announce that it’s a drill. That didn’t happen on Monday, a week before the Christmas holidays.
When they heard, lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real, she said.
Wiers said the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures, including cameras.
A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, nor was it clear if the victims were targeted, Barnes said.
I don’t know why, and I think if we know why, we can prevent these things from happening, he told reporters.
Barnes said police are speaking with the shooter’s father and other family members and are searching the shooter’s home.
He lost nobody,” Barnes said of the shooter’s father. “And so we don’t rush information. We will take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.
The first 911 call to report an active shooter came in shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the initial call.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9 mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Police closed the streets around the school, and federal agents were on the scene to assist local law enforcement. The police did not fire.
Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about a mile (1.6 km) from the school. Parents pressed their children to their chests while others squeezed their arms and shoulders as they walked side by side.
Abundant Life asked for prayers in a short Facebook post. Wiers said they are still deciding whether they will resume classes this week.
One student’s mother, Bethany Hyman, arrived at the school and learned on FaceTime that her daughter was OK.
As soon as this happens, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters, Hyman said. There is no one around you. You just bolt for the door and try to do everything as a parent to stay with your kids.
In a statement, President Joe Biden cited the tragedy in calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, national red flag laws and some gun restrictions.
We can never accept senseless violence that hurts children, their families and tears entire communities apart, Biden said. He spoke with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and offered their support.
Evers said it is unimaginable that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.
The school shooting was the latest of dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.
The shooting has sparked a heated debate about gun control and rattled the nerves of parents whose children are getting used to active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.
Guns were the leading cause of death for children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit organization that researches health care issues.
Rhodes-Conway said the country needs to do more to stop gun violence.
I hoped this day would never come to Madison, she said.