The teacher at a Wisconsin Christian school who was killed in a school shooting on Monday has been identified as 42-year-old Erin M West.
She worked at Abundant Life Christian School as the substitute coordinator before she was gunned down in an attack that also took the life of 14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara and the shooter, 15-year-old Natalie ‘Samantha’ Rupnow, the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office announced Wednesday.
Six others were wounded in the shooting, and two were left in critical condition.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear, and police have said they do not know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if Rupnow planned out the attack in advance.
‘I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,’ Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes told the Associated Press.
‘To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don´t know what the premeditation is.’
He then revealed that Rupnow had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack, adding that he does not know how she obtained the weapons.
Erin M West, 42, worked at Abundant Life Christian School as the substitute coordinator before she was gunned down in a school shooting on Monday
The school shooting also took the life of 14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara
‘We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we we´ll do our best to try to add or give as much information to our public as possible,’ he said.
Authorities raided the Rupnow’s Wisconsin home after Monday morning’s tragedy, and Natalie’s father has been reportedly compliant with the ongoing investigation.
Investigators have been trying to figure out if the mass shooter’s parents, Jeff and Melissa, had any involvement or contributed to Natalie’s actions – which left two people dead and six injured before she shot and killed herself.
Police said Natalie’s motivation for killing a student, a teacher and injuring several others during study hall seems to have been a ‘combination of factors.’
‘Some have asked if people were specifically targeted. Everyone was targeted in this incident, and everyone was put in equal danger,’ Barnes said, according to CNN.
But Lyndsay O’Connor, a mother of two survivors, speculated that the regular study hall teacher, who was not there due to a ‘planned absence,’ may have been Natalie’s target. Her idea has not been verified by police.
‘We don’t know if her target was the original teacher or just the kids in the class. She would have had to walk by the door and the door was open,’ O’Connor said.
School shooter 15-year-old Natalie ‘Samantha’ Rupnow later turned the gun on herself
It was revealed Wednesday that Rupnow had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack, the city’s police chief said
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school – prekindergarten through high school – with approximately 420 students.
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said the school does not have metal detectors but uses cameras and other security measures.
Police got a 911 call at 10:57am Monday morning, and within three minutes, county sheriff’s deputies had arrived at Abundant Life Christian School, which educates about 420 students. Local police arrived seconds later.
At 11:05am, they said that they’d found the shooter wounded and recovered the weapon. Rupnow was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.
Simultaneously, fire department workers got to the scene and began to care for the victims.
Police stand guard outside the home of Rupnow. O’Connor denied, despite Rupnow’s isolation and suggestions by the Madison police chief to the contrary, that the girl faced bullying
Barnes on Wednesday defended the police department’s handling of information about the shooting because it has moved from a crisis response to the investigation phase
Barnes said police were talking with the shooter´s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter’s home.
The shooter’s parents, who are divorced, jointly shared custody of their child, but the shooter primarily lived with her 42-year-old father, according to court documents.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
The school was just days away from closing for Christmas Vacation and students were gearing up for Monday night’s basketball game.
