Madison, Wisconsin, school shooting suspect identified as 15-year-old girl

A 15-year-old girl killed a teacher and teen student in a shooting on Monday at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, and wounded six others, according to authorities.

Natalie Rupnow was identified as the shooter who opened fire inside a study hall inside Abundant Life Christian School, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Responding officers found Rupnow with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She died on the way to a hospital.

During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Barnes said “identifying a motive is our top priority.” He said the motive appears to be a combination of factors, but he did not elaborate any further. 

Police were speaking with Rupnow’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching Rupnow’s home, Barnes said. He declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.

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“He lost someone as well,” Barnes said of Rupnow’s father. “And so we’re not going to rush the information. We’ll take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.”

Rupnow used a handgun in the shooting, according to Barnes.

“I don’t know why, and I feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,” he told reporters.

Students walk to a bus as they leave a shelter after a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

The teacher and student who were killed in the shooting have not yet been identified.

Barnes said that of the six wounded in the shooting, two were students and remain in critical condition. A teacher and three students were also hospitalized with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released.

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Barnes said he did not believe that the school, which serves 200 students, according to the school’s website, had a resource officer. It was also revealed that the school did not have metal detectors but did have cameras and other security protocols.

He also clarified that the initial 911 call reporting the shooting was made by a second-grade teacher at the school. On Monday, he mistakenly said the call had come from a second-grade student.

Emergency vehicles are parked outside the health clinic where parents were reunited with children after a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., on Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

James and Rebekah Smith, whose 17-year-old daughter is a student at the Abundant Life Christian School, told Fox News that they know all the victims and their families.

The Smiths said their daughter wasn’t in the same class as Rupnow, the alleged shooter, or knew her well, but said that Rupnow was new to the school and had enrolled sometime during the current semester. 

They added that their daughter and her group of friends said they never saw Rupnow speaking to anyone at school.

The couple also said the student who was killed was a freshman girl who they’ve known since she was a toddler.

“She gave great hugs. She was an amazing pianist. She loved to read. She was just an amazing young girl,” Rebekah Smith said. 

Rebekah Smith said the teacher who was killed had a daughter who was in sports with the Smiths’ daughter, and they talked with the mother at the games all the time. 

She added that the victim had been a long-term substitute teacher at the school and just became a full-time teacher this year.

President Biden spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway after the shooting, and he issued a separate statement that called the event “shocking and unconscionable.”

“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said.

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The FBI’s Milwaukee bureau says it has deployed agents to the scene to assist the investigation.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Garrett Tenney and Bradford Betz along with the Associated Press contributed to this report.