Police responded to a 911 call from a second-grade student.
Police have identified 15-year-old student Natalie Rupnow, who went by “Samantha,” as the shooter who opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday. She later died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
What happened at the Abundant Life Christian School
Rupnow killed one student and one teacher during a study hall attended by students from several grades. Six more victims were injured, of whom two are in life-threatening condition. Police responded to a 911 call from a second-grade student.
Shon F. Barnes, the Madison police chief, said that investigators are still trying to identify a motive. “We’ll take our time and make sure that we do our due diligence,” he explained.
Neighbors told CNN affiliate WTMJ that police investigated a home about eight miles from the school after the incident, and threw a stun grenade into the property.
“I heard the news this afternoon and thought, well, we’ll just drive by the main drag, and there it was,” one neighbor told WTMJ. “The front door was taken off and nobody was around, and the detectives are in there mopping up the mess.”
Rebekah Smith, whose daughter was in a class down the hall when the shooting occurred, told the New York Times that the school served as a sort of refuge for kids who’d had a rough time with bullying at other schools. It’s a small school, serving about 420 students. Several outlets have described it as a tight-knit community. Officials have asked mourners not to hold any events at the school, which is still an active crime scene.
Who were the victims?
Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, and Erin Michelle West, 42, have been revealed as the victims. Vergara“loved art, singing and playing keyboard,” according to her obituary, and had a special soft spot for animals.
West, who was the school’s substitute coordinator, was described as “kind and caring” by a seventh grader who spoke to CNN. Sophomore Mackynzie Wilson, who saw West just hours before the shooting, told CNN that she “really loved her kids.”
“She was so excited to see her daughters grow up and what they were going to be and do with their lives,” Wilson said.
The identities of those who were injured are still private.
What do we know about Natalie Rupnow?
Police have been probing 15-year-old shooter Natalie Rupnow’s background to determine her motive, which investigators have described as their “top priority.” A “combination of factors” appear to have led to the attack, and authorities say that “everyone was put in equal danger,” rather than there being a specific target. Police are questioning students to determine whether bullying may have been involved.
During a news briefing on December 17, Chief Barnes said that authorities were aware of a “document” that’s been shared widely on social media.
“At this time we cannot verify its authenticity,” he said. “We have detectives working today to determine where this document originated, and who actually shared it online.”
Rupnow apparently had a “turbulent home life,” according to court records. The Washington Post says that these show her parents “divorced and remarried multiple times, and that she had been enrolled in therapy.” Her parents are cooperating with the investigation.
Chief Barnes said that a handgun was recovered from the school, but its origin is still unknown. “How does any 15-year-old get ahold of a gun?” he said per the New York Times.
“We have asked our partners with the ATF to expedite what’s called an ATF trace form to try and determine the origin of that weapon, who purchased it and how it got from a manufacturer all the way to the hands of a 15-year-old girl,” Barnes told CNN. “These are questions that are going to take some time to answer.” At present, it does not appear that her parents were negligent, he said.
The most school shootings in a year
According to a CNN analysis, this is the 83rd school shooting in the United States this year. That means 2024 has surpassed 2023 for the most school shootings in a single calendar year since the outlet began tracking these events in 2008.
It is very unusual for the perpetrators to be female. According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, when gender was identified, nine of this year’s shooting suspects were female, versus 249 who were male.
