A teacher and a teenage student have been killed in a shooting at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin.
The shooter, a 15-year-old student went on rampage with a handgun Monday, Dec. 16, at a Christian school in Wisconsin, terrifying classmates including a second grader who made the 911 call that sent dozens of police officers rushing to the small school just a week before its Christmas break.
The female student, who was identified as Natalie Rupnow at a press conference Monday night, also wounded six others at a study hall at Abundant Life Christian School, including two students who are in critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.
A teacher and three students had been taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them had been released by Monday evening.
“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.
Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations for Abundant Life Christian School, said students “handled themselves magnificently.”
She said when the school practices safety routines, which it had done just before the school year, leaders always announce that it is a drill. That didn’t happen Monday.
“When they heard, ‘Lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,” she said.
Police said the shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived and d!ed en route to a hospital. Barnes declined to offer additional 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 Madison, the state capital.
Wiers said the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras.
Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about a mile away.
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.
2 k!lled as female student opens fire in Wisconsin school
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 (5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived 3 minutes after the initial call and went into the building immediately.
Classes had been taking place when the shooting happened, Barnes said.
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.
