School Shooting In Madison Leaves Two Dead

In Madison, Wisconsin, a 15-year-old student opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school, killing a teacher and a teenager and prompting a swarm of police officers to descend on the school in response to a second grader’s 911 call. The girl also wounded six others in Monday’s shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, including two students who were in critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. A teacher and three students were taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released, the Associated Press reports. “Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. ... We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened,” Barnes said. Police said the shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived and died en route to a hospital. Barnes declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.

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 feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,” he told reporters. Barnes said police were talking with the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter’s home. “He lost someone as well,” Barnes said of the shooter’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.” 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 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.