Madison school shooting, motive investigation ongoing
MADISON, Wis. - Students were allowed back inside the lobby of Abundant Life Christian School to retrieve their belongings they left behind when they evacuated their school. On Monday, Dec. 16, the school was the scene of a deadly shooting.
Madison police said the suspected shooter, Natalie Rupnow, a 15-year-old female who went by the name "Samantha," died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said she killed a teacher and a teenage student.
On Wednesday, the Dane County Medical Examiner's office released the names of the teenage student and staff member who died. They have been identified as 42-year-old Erin M. West of Deforest, and 14-year-old Rubi P. Vergara of Madison.
The four people taken to the hospital with minor injuries have all been discharged. The two students transported with life-threatening injuries remain in the hospital.
State Attorney General Josh Kaul said the Madison Police Department is continuing to lead the investigation.
"You want to investigate the facts fully and figure out precisely what happened," Kaul said. "I'm confident that that's what the Madison police are doing here."
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Tuesday detectives are trying to verify if online writings were of the 15-year-old. Police say they're looking into Rupnow’s online activity and looking at documents and computers they may have seized from her home.
Police also say they're talking with students.
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Kaul said the Office of School Safety is helping this heartbroken community.
Madison school shooting; Natalie Rupnow, what we know about her
Who is 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow – and how did she end up at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison?
"The Office of School Safety continues to provide support to the staff and the students, the staff in particular right now, to help support the process of healing and addressing trauma and ultimately reestablishing safety, psychological safety at the school so that students are able to return and feel comfortable," he said.
Attorney General Josh Kaul
A U.S. Secret Service report on mass attacks from 2016 to 2020 found 96% were committed by males, so police saying this shooter is a girl is a very rare case. The Secret Service also found that 76% of attackers had exhibited behaviors that elicited concern in others or had shared concerning communications prior to the attack.
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"The other thing that's important to note is that we know from a lot of research and sadly, from a lot of incidents involving mass violence, that cases involving targeted violence are ones in the most in most cases in which somebody goes down a pathway to violence," Kaul said. "It's rare that it's a situation where somebody all of a sudden wakes up one day and decides to commit violence. Instead, there's a series of things that may lead to it. There are various signs that can indicate that somebody may be on that pathway. And there are interventions that can help prevent targeted violence. That's one of the things that our Office of School Safety trains on. And there's actually an e-learning module online folks can look at that provides information about signs of targeted violence."
The state offers a tip line and site called the Speak Up, Speak Out Resource Center for anyone with a worry about school safety.
Outside the Madison school on Wednesday, crime tape still surrounded the school. A growing memorial honors the victims but cannot replace the lives lost.
One man came from Michigan to offer his support at the memorial site.
"Once I heard what happened, I knew that this cross needed to be here," Dan Beazley said as he held a large cross. "These things are happening more frequently. We need to turn from sin and turn to God. If we do that, we can fix this problem."
If you wish to support the families, you can donate through a site set up by the United Way of Dane County. You can visit UnitedWayDaneCounty.org or you can text Help4ALCS to 40403.