Wisconsin
Community members wrestle with grief in aftermath of Wisconsin school shooting
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Community members in Wisconsin continued to wrestle with grief and called for change in the aftermath of a school shooting that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others.
Several hundred people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol for a vigil Tuesday night to honor those slain at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison the day before, with some passing candles to each other and standing close against the winter chill.
Among those in attendance was Naomi Allen, 16, who was in a nearby classroom Monday when a 15-year-old girl attacked people in a study hall before fatally shooting herself.
“It’s doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, something like this could happen. There’s nothing that is going to exempt someone,” Allen said at the vigil.
Allen’s father, Jay Allen, reflected on the dangers students face these days.
“When I was in school these things never happened,” he said. “This country at some point needs to take mental health seriously and we need to pour resources into it. We really need some changes in the way we handle that issue.”
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The motive for the shooting appears to be a “combination of factors,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Tuesday as he appealed to the public to call in to a tip line and share what they might know about the shooter.
He offered no details about what that motive might be, though he said bullying at Abundant Life Christian School would be investigated. He also said police are investigating writings that may have been penned by the shooter, Natalie Rupnow, and could shed light on her actions.
“Identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive is a combination of factors,” Barnes told reporters.
Two students among the six people wounded Monday remain in critical condition. Officials have declined to disclose the names of the victims.
“Leave them alone,” Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said.
The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.
The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.
School shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in U.S. history, with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
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.
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.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Madison resident Cristian Cuahutepitzi said he attended Tuesday’s vigil to let the families of the victims know “we’re thinking of them.” He said his uncle’s two daughters go to the school.
“They’re still a little bit shook,” he said.
Joe Gothard, the superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District, said at the vigil that the tragedy happened less than two blocks away from his childhood home. He said it wasn’t enough to say the district would work on safety.
“We need to connect like we are tonight, each and every day and make a commitment that we know we’re there for one another, hopefully to avoid preventable tragedies like yesterday,” he said.
A prayer service was also held Tuesday night at City Church Madison, which is affiliated with the school
Several teachers from the school prayed aloud one by one during the service, speaking into a microphone and standing in a line. One middle school teacher asked for courage, while another sought help quieting her own soul.
“God, this isn’t a Abundant Life Christian School tragedy,” said Derrick Wright, the youth pastor at the church. “This is a community tragedy. This is a nation tragedy.”
___
Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Ed White, Josh Funk, Hallie Golden and Ryan Foley and photographer Morry Gash contributed to this report.
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office
FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. – Two people from Illinois were arrested following a police chase that started in Fond du Lac County and ended in Winnebago County on Friday, May 8.
Initial traffic stop
What we know:
According to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office, just after 1 p.m. the sheriff’s office got an alert for a stolen vehicle out of Illinois heading northbound on I-41 from County Road Y.
It was learned that the vehicle was involved in two different police chases in the past week in Illinois, but had eluded officers each time.
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A short time later, a deputy spotted the vehicle on I-41 near Winnebago Street. The deputy continued to follow the suspect vehicle northbound, waiting for more deputies to get into position to attempt a high-risk traffic stop. Once those deputies were in position, a high-risk traffic stop was conducted. The vehicle initially pulled over and stopped, but right after deputies got out of their squad cars and started telling the people to get out of the vehicle, it instead fled northbound on I-41.
Chase into Winnebago County
What we know:
The chase went into Winnebago County, with the vehicle failing to pullover and instead speeding up. As the chase continued, the vehicle continued driving recklessly, passing by other vehicles on the interstate, including passing on the shoulder and weaving between vehicles, all at a high rate of speed.
The vehicle exited I-41 and ran three red lights. The chase continued southbound on State Highway 26, with the vehicle continuing to pass vehicles at a high rate of speed on the two-lane highway.
The vehicle then went off the road and drove through the yard of a home before circling around in the yard, traveling through the ditch, and reentering the highway going northbound. It then went into a field near County Road Z and Clay Road.
As a sergeant with the sheriff’s office was moving in to perform a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT Maneuver), the suspect vehicle went into reverse and rammed the front of the squad. The vehicle then attempted to leave the field by traveling through a ditch and back up onto the road, where another sheriff’s squad ended the chase by intentionally striking the vehicle and pushing it off the road and back into the ditch.
The vehicle rolled over in the ditch, came to rest upright, but was then disabled and could not move. Two people got out of the vehicle and were taken into custody. The vehicle started on fire and a fire department had to respond to extinguish the fire. Both people from the vehicle were evaluated by medical personnel on scene.
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Facing charges
What we know:
The driver of the vehicle was identified as a 23-year-old man from Des Plaines, Illinois. He was taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail on the following charges:
- Fleeing/Eluding an Officer
- 1st-Degree Reckless Endangering Safety (2 Counts)
- Resisting/Obstructing Officer
- Delivering Illegal Articles by Inmate (Ecstasy Pills).
The driver’s criminal history in Illinois was flagged as armed and dangerous with previous weapons offenses, dangerous drug offenses, and criminal damage to property.
The passenger of the vehicle was identified as a 23-year-old woman from Franklin Park, Illinois. She was taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail on the following charges:
- Fleeing/Eluding—Party to a Crime
- 1st Degree Reckless Endangering Safety—Party to a Crime
- Possession of THC
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
- Resisting and Obstructing an Officer
The Source: The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office sent FOX6 a press release.
Wisconsin
Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars
The Wisconsin stepmother from hell accused of abusing her 35-pound 14-year-old daughter by depriving her of food and water has entered a no-contest plea in the twisted case.
Melissa Goodman, 52, now faces up to 46 years in prison if she’s handed the maximum sentence for charges of chronic neglect causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect causing emotional damage and false imprisonment.
She’s set to be sentenced on July 1.
Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, has been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter.
Goodman’s daughter Savanna Goodman and her girlfriend Kayla Stemler were also charged over the alleged abuse, People reported.
The family is accused of locking the teen in a bedroom without a mattress, restricting her to only her room for years and depriving her of food and water, according to Wisconsin prosecutors.
The mobile home they lived in became a house of horrors for the teenager, who was mistaken for a 6-year-old when she was found by cops in August 2025 and rushed to the hospital.
Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill.
Responding officers found her weighing just 35 pounds; she was hospitalized with multi-organ dysfunction, including respiratory failure and pancreatitis.
From 2020 until August 2025, the victim, whose name is not disclosed because she is a minor, was allegedly isolated in a trailer on Hattie Lane, in Oneida, Wisconsin.
Extended family members were told she was away on vacation or with other relatives to explain her absence.
When “Song Sung Blue” – the biopic about Milwaukee Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder – had a premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee last December, star Hugh Jackman gave Claire Sardina (played in the film by Kate Hudson) an engraved bench honoring Lighting & Thunder to be installed at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
In August, Sardina will get to have a seat on that bench – and sing again on a State Fair stage.
Sardina will perform with tribute act So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience Aug. 9 at the Bank Five Nine Amphitheater, the largest stage at the fair featuring free concerts with admission.
For Sardina, it will be a return to a place central to Lighting & Thunder. The band performed in the Milwaukee area from 1989 until Mike Sardina, aka Lightning, passed away in 2006. The State Fair was one of their favorite places to play, and the couple got married there in 1994.
The couple’s wild story – from a performance at a Pearl Jam Summerfest concert to major health issues – was the subject of the documentary “Song Sung Blue” that inspired the biopic, and earned Hudson an Oscar nomination for portraying Claire Sardina.
Fair officials May 8 revealed the full headliner lineup for the stage, which includes:
- Aug. 6: Sixteen Candles
- Aug. 7 and 8: Here Come The Mummies
- Aug. 10 and 11: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
- Aug. 12: Hairbangers Ball
- Aug. 13: Too Hype Crew
- Aug. 14: The Gufs
- Aug. 15: Let’s Sing Taylor – An Unofficial Live Tribute Show
- Aug. 16: Pat McCurdy
All Bank Five Nine Amphitheater concerts are included with fair admission.
The lineup is also nearly complete for the Bank Five Nine Main Stage, with just a show on Aug. 11 to be announced.
Tickets are on sale for these shows at wistatefair.com and include same-day fair admission:
- Aug. 6: Hairball
- Aug. 7: Nelly
- Aug. 8: Bailey Zimmerman with Chandler Walters
- Aug. 9: Wynonna Judd and Melissa Etheridge
- Aug. 10: For King + Country with Rachel Lampa
- Aug. 12: John Mulaney
- Aug. 13: The All-American Rejects with Joyce Manor
- Aug. 14: Lindsey Stirling with PVRIS
- Aug. 15: AJR with Em Beihold
- Aug. 16: The Beach Boys
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