A student opened fire at a private Christian school in Wisconsin, USA, injuring six people and killing a teacher and a teenage student.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes identified the attacker as a 15-year-old female student at Abundant Life Christian School.
Authorities confirmed that the shooter was a student at the school before the attack, and she was found dead at the scene. Six students were injured, including two with life-threatening injuries.
A second-grade student, believed to be around seven or eight years old, was the first to report the active shooter, according to Chief Barnes.
“Today is a sad day not only for Madison, for our entire country,” Mr Barnes said. “We have to do a better job in our community.”
He stated that the police had not yet determined a motive for the shooting, and the suspect’s family was cooperating with the investigation.
It is also unclear how the attacker obtained a firearm.
The alleged shooter has been identified as Natalie Rupnow, also known as Samantha. She is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though the official cause of death will be confirmed by the Dane County Medical Examiner after the autopsy results.
Mr. Barnes further noted that, to his knowledge, police had not had any prior interactions with the suspect.
Officers responded to a 911 emergency call about a shooter at the Christian school around 11:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Monday. The shooter had attended the school prior to the attack.
The incident occurred in a study hall with students from mixed grades.
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of relations, shared that the school had conducted active shooter training earlier this year, which educators were able to use during the response on Monday.
She mentioned that while the school does not have a dedicated school resource officer, all classroom doors automatically lock, and anyone seeking entry to the campus must be buzzed in through the main entrance.
Ms. Wiers, who was teaching at the time of the attack, praised the students for handling the situation “brilliantly.”
“They were clearly scared,” she said. “When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown’ and nothing else, they knew it was real.”
Police say they found the shooter dead when they arrived at the school, along with a handgun. No officers fired weapons.
Mr Barnes said two students were in critical but stable condition in the hospital facing life-threatening injuries. Four others were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, two of whom have since been released.
Authorities have appealed for witnesses who saw or heard the attack to come speak to police, and that they hope these accounts will shed light on the attacker’s motive.
“But that’s not something we want to rush. We’re not gonna interrogate students,” Mr Barnes said. “We’re gonna give them an opportunity to come in and tell us what they saw when they’re ready.”
He added that “every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever”.
The chief said officers responded to the school as they were undergoing training at a training centre for law enforcement located three miles away.
“What began as a training day became an actual day,” he said.
The shooting also resulted in a large response from emergency officials. Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said 15 ambulances responded.
Officials from the FBI also responded, as well as other federal and local law enforcement officials.
The Abundant Life Christian School has around 400 students ranging from kindergarten through high school.
“Please pray for our Challenger Family,” the school wrote in a post on Facebook. The post quickly received hundreds of comments of support from people across the US.
The school remains closed while police continue their investigation.
“This has been a rough day for our city,” said Mr Barnes.
“This is going to be a day that will be etched in the collective minds and memories of all those from Madison.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said that he was closely monitoring the situation and praying for everyone involved. He also ordered that flags fly at half mast on state buildings.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that the shooting was “shocking and unconscionable”.
“Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover,” said Biden, who also called on Congress to act immediately on legislation that could prevent more gun violence.
Shootings are common in the US, and schools are no exception.
The K-12 Violence Project, a non-profit dedicated to reducing violence through accessible research, has reported over 300 shootings in 2024. This figure includes incidents where a gun is brandished or fired, or a bullet strikes school property, regardless of the number of victims involved.
According to EducationWeek, 38 school shootings this year have resulted in deaths or injuries across the US, with 69 total victims, including 16 fatalities, prior to today’s incident.
While mass shootings committed by females are relatively rare, school shootings by female attackers are even less common.
In a blog post last year, K-12 School Shooting Database founder David Riedman noted that the majority of school shooters are male, typically in their teens or early twenties. However, at least four planned school shootings by female attackers have been recorded since 1979.