Details continue to emerge about the unfolding shooting at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, which left three people dead, including the 15-year-old shooter, and several others injured on Monday.
Police said Natalie Rupnow, known as Samantha, used a handgun to kill a teacher and a fellow student during the shooting.
Rupnow died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before officers reached the school, police said. The officers did not fire their weapons.
Two students suffered life-threatening injuries and are in critical condition, while a teacher and two other students were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said during a news briefing Monday that the shooting was limited to “a classroom in a study hall filled with students from multiple grade levels.”
A police officer stands guard outside Abundant Life Christian School on December 16, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Police have not yet suggested a motive for the attack or indicated whether they believe the victims were specifically targeted.
The suspect’s father reportedly spoke with police at one of their premises shortly after the incident. Police are “trying to determine what he knew or didn’t know about what happened today, but again, he lost someone as well,” Barnes said.
“The parents are fully cooperating, we have no reason to believe they committed a crime at this time,” Barnes said.
A second grader called 911, Barnes said. “Let that sink in for a minute,” Barnes added. “A second grader called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a school shooting.”
President Joe Biden called the incident “shocking and unconscionable” in a statement Monday evening calling on Congress to act “now.”
A family leaves a shelter after a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 16, 2024.
Morry Gash/AP
He insisted they pass “common sense” gun safety laws, including universal background checks, a national red flag law, and a ban on assault weapons and magazines large capacity.
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence,” the statement said, adding: “We cannot continue to accept it as normal.”
Biden also mentioned his administration’s efforts to combat the epidemic of gun violence in the United States, including the implementation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, while saying it was necessary doing more and offering prayers to those affected in Madison.
Police direct traffic outside Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, after a shooting on December 16, 2024.
Morry Gash/AP
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement, “There are no words to describe the devastation and heartbreak we feel,” calling the shooting a “heartbreaking tragedy.”
Evers said he and his wife are “praying for the families and loved ones of those whose lives have been so senseless, as well as the educators, staff and entire Abundant Life school community.”
“It is unthinkable that a child or an educator would wake up one morning and go to school and never come home,” he said. “This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a foregone conclusion and never stop working to change it.”
