Police identified the Madison, Wisconsin school shooter who killed a teacher and a student before turning the gun on herself as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha.
Rupnow, a student who attended Abundant Life Christian School, opened fire in a study hall on Monday killing two and injuring six others, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes confirmed Monday night.
The shooter was there from the start of the school day. She was found wounded by police from a self-inflicted gunshot and was pronounced dead on her way to a local hospital.
Barnes said that a second-grade student was the one who called 911 to the school. The study hall had members of multiple grades in it at the time.
It is not yet confirmed if Rupnow’s family – who are cooperating with the investigation – were gun owners. They are currently looking into anything she may have left behind.
Barnes said they’re currently speaking with the shooter’s father at one of their facilities and that he’s cooperating. He said they had no reason to believe they were going to be charged with a crime.
‘He lost someone as well. And so we’re not going to rush the information, we’ll take our time and certainly do our due diligence,’ Barnes said.
He added that he had no knowledge of any previous interactions with Rupnow: ‘I think if there were, we certainly would have had some type of intervention, but I’m not aware of that.’
Police identified the Madison, Wisconsin school shooter who killed a teacher and a student before turning the gun on herself as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha. Pictured: police outside the suspected shooter’s home
The bloodbath resulted in three casualties – one student, one teacher and the shooter – and six others transported to area hospitals which include children just days before Christmas break.
Two survivors have since been discharged, while two students are in critical condition with ‘life-threatening’ injuries.
‘We know that the suspect shooter was a teenage student who attended the school,’ Barnes said.
‘Again, as difficult as today is, that’s still someone’s child that’s gone, that’s still someone that has to deal with what happened today. And so we want to make sure that we can ensure as much cooperation as we can,’ he added.
‘Why did this happen? What do we know? What was the motivation?’ Barnes said. ‘I do not know.’
Barnes noted the family of the suspected shooter is cooperating with the investigation.
It is unknown if the suspect had any contact with law enforcement prior to deadly shooting.
‘We do not know that the shooter had any prior contact with law enforcement. But I did do a check of the school,’ Barnes said.
‘There were some calls, but they were like 911 hang-ups, things of that nature. There was nothing that suggested that the school was a place that violence would occur.’
The bloodbath resulted in three casualties – one student, one teacher and the shooter – and six others transported to area hospitals
The suspected shooter was a teen who attended the school and was found dead by police from a self-inflicted gunshot.
A student at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin , opened fired on Monday killing two others and injuring several others
Barnes said: ‘We believe that the shooter was at school. We have no information that there was some type of breach to the school.’
‘Six other people were injured, two students are now in critical condition in the hospital, and these injuries are considered life threating injuries,’ Barnes said.
‘Four students are also at other area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.’
A handgun was discovered by officers at Abundant Life Christian School and students are being interviewed by police.
Barnes said around 10:57 a.m. officers responded to calls of an active shooter.
‘When officers arrived, they found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,’ he said.
Barnes added that officers did not fire any shots at the school when responding to the incident.
The police chief said that the two victims in Monday’s school shooting were a teacher and a student.
A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told CNN the shooter was female
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes called for compassion saying, ‘That’s still someone’s child that is gone’
The third deceased person was the shooter, who appears to have killed themselves before police arrived at the school.
Police are not releasing other information about those who have lost their lives until next of kin are briefed.
‘I’m not going to give any information about who the victims are, whether they’re students, staff or parents, because we need to make sure that we can notify people,’ Barnes said.
Police sources told the Associated Press they believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol.
Abundant Life Christian School has about 420 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The school was just days away from closing for Christmas Vacation and students were gearing up for Monday night’s basketball game. Officials were unclear about when school would reopen or if it would before breaking for the holidays.
