The investigation into a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis. Monday that left three dead, including the suspect, continued on Tuesday.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes clarified Tuesday the shooting was reported to 911 by a second grade teacher, not a second grade student as he reported Monday.
Officers, including some who were doing active-shooter training nearby, responded within minutes.
Natalie Rupnow, a 15-year-old student at the school, was identified as the suspect late Monday. Barnes said she died on the way to the hospital from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Another student and a teacher were also killed. Two students remained in critical condition Tuesday while three other students and a teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The victims have not been identified.
Barnes said they believed Rupnow had been at the school earlier that day and there was no indication a breach had occurred. The deadly violence unfolded in a study hall, not a classroom or a hallway.
It remains unclear what grade Rupnow — who also went by “Samantha” — was in, Barnes said. The chief also dismissed rumors the shooter was transgender.
“I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify,” he said Monday.
Rupnow had no prior criminal history, Barnes noted, and a motive for the violence is still under investigation. He said her motivation appears to have been a “combination of factors,” without getting into specifics. He added that “everyone was targeted” during the attack and that investigators are looking into whether bullying was an issue at the school.
Federal investigators are also assisting in tracing the origin of the handgun used in the shooting, which was discovered at the scene. While they’re looking into whether the “parents may have been negligent,” Barnes said that “does not appear to be the case.” He said multiple times Monday and Tuesday that Rupnow’s family was cooperating with investigators.
A possible “manifesto” may have also been found during a search of Rupnow’s home. Her social media profiles and other writings are also being examined, but police declined to share additional information.
“We have been made aware of a manifesto, if you want to call it that, or some type of letter that’s been posted by someone who alleged to be her friend,” Barnes told CNN on Tuesday, noting they had not yet verified its authenticity.
“Again, we are working to authenticate the document that you see online that some are referring to as a manifesto,” Barnes said Tuesday.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway similarly urged patience.
“There is so much that we do not know and we have to allow law enforcement the time and space for a careful and methodical examination,” she said. “We don’t know nearly enough yet.”
When pushed by reporters for information on the victims, the mayor said, “It is absolutely none of y’all’s business who was harmed in this incident.”
“Please, have some human decency and respect for people who lost loved ones,” she said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. “Leave them alone. Don’t feed off their pain.”
Abundant Life Christian School was scheduled to begin holiday break next week. It’s unknown when classes will resume.
The shooting occurred less than two weeks after a man with a history of mental health issues opened fire on playing children at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville, Ca. Two boys were seriously wounded before the shooter turned the gun on himself.
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