MADISON, Wis. — A 15-year-old student opened fire in a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and a teenager and prompting a swarm of police officers to respond to a second-grader’s 911 call.
The female student injured six others in the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, 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.
“Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will forever be a victim. … We have to figure 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 officers arrived and died on the way to a hospital. Barnes declined to provide further details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school – preschool through high school – with approximately 420 students in Madison, the state capital.
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said when they practice safety routines, leaders always announce it is a drill. That didn’t happen on Monday, just 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 whether the victims were targeted, Barnes said.
“I don’t know why, and I feel like if we knew why, we could prevent these things from happening,” he told reporters.
Barnes said police were talking to the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperative, and searching the shooter’s home.
“He lost someone, too,” Barnes said of the shooter’s father. “And so we’re not going to rush the information. We will take our time and ensure we do our due diligence.”
The first 911 call reporting an active shooter came in shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) away rushed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the first call.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm handgun, 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 blocked the roads around the school and federal agents were on scene to assist local law enforcement. No shots were fired by the police.
Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about 1 mile from the school. Parents hugged their children to their chests, while others squeezed their hands 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 to resume classes this week.
Bethany Highman, the mother of a student, rushed to the school and heard via FaceTime that her daughter was doing well.
“As soon as it happened, your world stands still for a moment. Nothing else matters,” Highman said. ‘There is no one around you. You just run to the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your children.
In a statement, President Joe Biden cited the tragedy in calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and certain gun restrictions.
“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children and their families and tears apart entire communities,” Biden said. He spoke with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and offered his support.
Evers said it is “unthinkable” that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.
The school shooting was the latest among dozens in the US in recent years, including mostly fatal cases Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, FL; And Uvalde, Texas.
The shootings have sparked heated debates over gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have had little impact on the nation’s gun laws.
Firearms were the main cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit organization that researches health care issues.
Rhodes-Conway said the country must do more to prevent gun violence.
“I hoped this day would never come to Madison,” she said.
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Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Ed White, Josh Funk and Hallie Golden and photographer Morry Gash contributed to this report.