A 15-year-old student on Monday opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and teenager, and prompting a swarm of police officers responding to a second-grade student’s 911 call.
The female student wounded six others in the 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 hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“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 hospital. Barnes declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school with approximately 420 students in Madison.
Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations, said when the school practices safety routines, leaders always announce that it is a drill. That did not happen on Monday, just a week before the Christmas break.
“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 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 and so we’re not going to rush the information,” Barnes said of the shooter’s father. “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 11am. First responders who were in training just 5km away dashed to the school, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the call.
Police blocked off roads around the school, and federal agents were at the scene to assist local law enforcement. No shots were fired by police.
Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about 1.6km from the school. Parents pressed children against their chests, while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side.
Bethany Highman, the mother of a student, rushed to the school and learned on FaceTime that her daughter was not injured.
“As soon as it happened, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,” Highman said.
US President Joe Biden in a statement cited the tragedy in calling on the US Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and certain gun restrictions.
“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said that the US needs to do more to prevent gun violence.
“I hoped that this day would never come to Madison,” she said.
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