Wisconsin latest: Police identify deceased 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow as school shooter
Natalie Rupnow, a 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School, has been identified by police as the suspected shooter
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A 15-year-old girl, who police identified as Natalie Rupnow, killed a teacher and fellow student after opening fire on a K-12 school in Madison, Wisconsin.
Police responded to reports of an active shooter at Abundant Life Christian School just before 11 a.m. on Monday morning and entered the building immediately upon arrival.
Rupnow – who went by “Samantha” – was pronounced dead when police arrived at the scene of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound, Madison Police Department Chief Shon Barnes said.
Six others have been left injured, including two left two in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. Her motive remains unclear.
A second-grade student dialled 911 to report the shooting, police said Monday. Authorities found a handgun at the scene. Rupnow’s family is cooperating with police, the chief said.
Joe Biden, who was briefed on the school shooting on Monday, said: “It’s shocking and unconscionable. We need Congress to act. Now... Jill and I are praying for all the victims today, including the teacher and teenage student who were killed and those who sustained injuries.”
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Tuesday evening as Madison reels from the attack.
In pictures: Police swarm the Abundant Life Christian School
Candlelight vigil to be held on Tuesday evening
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Tuesday night as Madison reels from the heinous attack on the Abundant Life Christian School.
The city mayor and education officials expected to attend, according to WMTV.
Police asked the local community to delay holding vigils on Monday at the school, which remains an active crime scene. Law enforcement officials monitored the school overnight.
When a mass shooting becomes a social media rumor
At multiple times in the hours after the Madison shooting, officials have warned members of the public to disregard the social media rumor mill, an increasing fact of life after high-profile instances of violence in America.
First, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes reminded members of the public of a bit of basic media literacy, telling them to only get their information about the shooting from trusted government and media sources, as online speculation about the incident runs rampant.
“Social media, quite frankly, is something I can’t control,” he said at a press conference.
“If you’re listening to this and you’re at home or thinking about reposting something that did not come from someone in this room, a trusted and respected journalist, please don’t do that,” he added. “It does help erode the trust in this process, and that’s all we have.”
Barnes said such rumors could “fan the flames” at a time when “we need to come together and not be divided by anything.”
Later, as online commentators, particularly those on the right, engaged in unverified speculation the shooter was trasgender, Barnes had a more pointed comment.
“I dont think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she, or he, or they may have wanted to identify,” Barnes said. “I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this. We have people who have yet another school shooting in Madison. That’s where my focus will be for the very near future.”
Catch up: the latest details on the Madison shooting
Here’s what you need to know:
Wisconsin school shooting: What we know about the shooter who killed at least two
The suspected shooter attended the private K-12 school, police said
Mother furious after Madison shooting: ‘When are they going to be safe'
Parents are in fear after a mass shooting hit a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday.
“I don’t know what to say, because we always send prayers. We always send thoughts. When are we going to stop doing that? This is not okay,” Mireille Jean-Charles told The Washington Post on Monday after she reunited with her three sons, who are students at Abundant Life Christian School. “If your kids are at school, they are not okay. If they’re at church, they are not okay. If they are outside, elsewhere, they are not okay. Where are they going to be safe?”
White House speaks with Wisconsin officials after Madison shooting
The White House has been closely tracking the Madison shooting.
President Biden spoke with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway after the shooting, which left three people including the gunman dead, according to officials.
‘We still haven’t done enough’: Parkland survivor on Madison shooting
David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, said on Monday that the school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, shows “we still haven’t done enough” to stop gun violence against children.
“We have a lot further to go. Obviously Congress needs to do more to fight these things and prevent them in the first place,” he told ABC News on Monday.
“What I think about too at the same time are the shootings we don’t hear about because they were prevented, whet that’s through the red flag law we passed after Parkland.”
Family of teen shooter having ‘long conversation’ with police
The family of Madison school shooter Natalie Rupnow is cooperating with police, Madison officials said on Monday night.
The 15-year-old’s father was speaking with police Monday evening, Madison police chief Shon Barnes told reporters.
“We have no reason to believe they have committed a crime at this time,” Barnes said of the family.
Madison police ‘don’t know’ if shooter was trans as chief tells public to leave aside ‘personal biases'
The Madison Police Department has weighed in on fast-moving, unverified online speculation that the shooter in today’s Madison school shooting was transgender.
Chief Shon Barnes said Monday evening he didn’t know if Natalie Rupnow, who died in the shooting, was transgender, but that gender wasn’t immediately important.
“I dont think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she, or he, or they may have wanted to identify,” Barnes said. “I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this. We have people who have yet another school shooting in Madison. That’s where my focus will be for the very near future.”