Wisconsin school shooting updates: Police say rampage motive a 'combination of factors'
MADISON, Wis. — A "combination of factors" motivated the deadly shooting at a private Christian school in Wisconsin that left three dead, including the suspect, and injured six others, Madison Police said Tuesday afternoon.
Chief Shon Barnes did not provide details, citing the ongoing investigation, but said investigators were interviewing the suspect's classmates "to understand whether bullying was one of those multiple factors."
Police said 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire Monday morning in a classroom at Abundant Life Christian School, a K-12 school that serves about 400 students. Rupnow died on the way to a local hospital from what police believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Barnes said.
Two students were in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. Three other students and one teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries; two of the victims were released from nearby hospitals.
Police originally said a second-grader made the first 911 call reporting an active shooter, but Barnes corrected the earlier statement in a news conference on Tuesday, saying a second grade teacher had actually made the call.
Identifying a motive is the agency's "top priority," Barnes said. He urged anyone who knew Rupnow to come forward, especially if they have know "what she was going through or feeling" before the shooting. He added that police were working to verify whether writings circulating online were written by the suspect.
"We are working to authenticate the document that you see online that some are referring to as a manifesto,” he said, urging people not to share it until it is verified by investigators.
Here's what we know about the incident and the ongoing investigation:
Student, 15, ID'd as suspect in Abundant Life Christian School shooting
Officials identified the suspect as Natalie Rupnow, a teenage student at Abundant Life Christian School who went by Samantha.
Investigators searched the teen's house and have spoken with her family but have not identified a motive for the attack, police said. It remains unclear how she obtained the handgun police found at the scene.
While the Madison Police Department said she likely died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released the official cause of death.
Police investigate whether parents were 'negligent'
Barnes in an interview with CNN said authorities were looking into how the suspect got the handgun used in Monday's shooting and whether her parents were "negligent."
When asked if the parents owned or possessed the handgun found at the school, Barnes said, "I'm not certain at this time.”
“We also want to look at if the parents may have been negligent. And that’s a question that we’ll have to answer with our district attorney’s office,” Barnes told CNN on Tuesday. “But at this time, that does not appear to be the case.”
At a news conference on Monday, Barnes said agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were working to trace the gun. Local police were also in contact with the FBI, Barnes said.
Memorial set up outside Abundant Life Christian School after shooting
Outside Abundant Life Christian School, local residents set up a makeshift memorial, placing candles and flowers on a stretch of sidewalk in honor of the shooting's victims and their families.
Megan Mojica and Kamila Reynolds, both Madison area school bus drivers, visited the site Tuesday morning, set down some candles and prayed with a local chaplain.
Reynolds said the shooting shocked her. "(Madison) is a good town," she said. "And for something to happen like this ... it's surprising."
Mojica said her son encountered gun violence in a shooting incident at Waukesha South High in 2019, where a police officer shot and injured an 18-year-old student who had a pellet gun. "My son was the child that had the gun in his face," Mojica said. "So I know first-hand what it's like to go through something like this."
"Surround yourself with family and friends, because with time, you will be able to overcome," she said she would say to those who were affected by Monday's events.
More:A day after Abundant Life shooting in Madison, community struggles to make sense of the tragedy
– Laura Schulte, Sophie Carson and Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Flags to be flown at half-staff until Sunday, governor says
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said on X that he ordered flags be flown at half-staff in the aftermath of the deadly school shooting in Madison.
"The flags will be flown at half-staff until Sunday at sunset as we honor those whose lives were taken and forever changed yesterday, pray for the full recoveries of those injured, and mourn with and support the Abundant Life Christian School community," he said in a statement.
Two patients are in stable condition, hospital says
One of the hospitals where victims of the Madison school shooting were taken said two patients were discharged and two were in stable condition.
The hospital, SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, had received a total of four victims from Abundant Life Christian School, Lisa Adams, a spokesperson for the hospital said in an email to USA TODAY.
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital worked with law enforcement to reunite families, the statement said. The hospital had psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers on site talking with both kids and their families. Officials at the facility also brought in its pastoral team and therapy dogs.
"We know the effects of yesterday’s tragedy will be felt for a long time," the statement said. "SSM Health is committed to our continued support and assistance. We pray for the physical, emotional and spiritual healing for our entire community."
The other victims were transported to University of Wisconsin hospitals, according to Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon. USA TODAY requested the latest status reports.
Wisconsin DOJ on alert for copycat crimes amid surge in tips
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is on alert for possible copycat incidents after a tip line received a surge of reports after Monday's deadly attack at Abundant Life Christian School.
Trish Kilpin, the director of the Wisconsin Office of School Safety at the state Department of Justice, said at a media briefing with Madison police Monday night numerous calls came into the "Speak Up, Speak Out" school shooting tip line.
"Today, I have communicated with schools across the state, as well as with (the Department of Public Instruction) about how to manage and handle those tips," she said. "Whether it's an anonymous threat or a threat specific to a student."
The "Speak Up, Speak Out" tip line was created in 2020, and since then has fielded more than 350 tips regarding school attacks, Kilpin said.
– Laura Schulte, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Female school shooters are rare, research shows
It is rare for school shooters to be female, according to the data and experts who study such incidents. In fact, the percentage of people who have perpetrated mass shootings who are female is in the low single digits.
Of 544 school shooting incidents over an 11-year period, less than 5% of the shooters were female, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit group that advocates for stronger gun laws. The group noted that the gender of the shooter is not always available so data are incomplete.
Justin Heinze, an associate professor of health behavior and health equity at the University of Michigan, said while school shootings are extremely distressing, they are comparatively rare compared to other firearms deaths and therefore drawing data from such incidents warrants caution.
“We're talking about an outlier of an outlier,” he said, referring to female school shooters. “But I'll tell anybody who asks me that there is not necessarily a profile. I cannot give you individual characteristics, or some patterns of behavior, or some life experiences that produce with any real accuracy, who might end up perpetrating an event like this."
– John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Parents recall panic after news broke of school shooting
Michelet Jean-Charles's heart sank when his boss told him there was a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, where his three children are enrolled. He rushed to the school and was directed to a nearby clinic that was turned into a reunification center. After the longest two hours of his life, he received word that his children were safe.
“I could not (walk on my own), you know, I was trembling,” he said. “I was crying. I've cried before, but this was a different cry because I never thought my children would be safe.”
Bethany Highman, whose daughter attends the private Christian school, was able to video call her daughter and make sure she was OK just after she heard about the shooting. She said she was uncertain of the next steps but said she intended to support her daughter through community and prayer.
“Your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,” she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. “We’re just waiting, praying.”
What is Abundant Life Christian School?
Abundant Life Christian School, founded in 1978, serves about 400 students, according to its website.
The school “was specifically organized to offer students academic excellence in a Christ-focused context,” its website says. Approximately 200 families from 56 different churches in the Dane County, Wisconsin, area make up the school's student body.
The main building is located next door to City Church Madison, a Christian non-denominational church.
Did the school have any security?
Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations at Abundant Life Christian School, described the school's security protocols at a news conference Monday.
Security cameras in the building are monitored, doors remain locked and every student is "visually scanned" by staff as they enter the building, she said. The school does not have a school resource officer or metal detectors.
Biden calls on Congress to act after Madison school shooting
President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday the shooting was "shocking and unconscionable" and called on lawmakers to take legislative action to prevent future shootings.
"From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that don’t receive attention – it is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence," Biden said. "We cannot continue to accept it as normal."
He called on Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red-flag law, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
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