Wisconsin police identify shooter in deadly Madison school attack: Updates
MADISON, Wis. — Two people were killed and six others were injured Monday after a 15-year-old student opened fire at a private school in Madison, Wisconsin, authorities said, the latest school attack to rock the nation.
Officers responded to a call of an active shooter at the Abundant Life Christian School, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. One teacher and one teen student were killed, he confirmed.
Two students are in critical condition, according to police. Three other students and one teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and two of the victims have been released from hospitals, Barnes added during Monday night's news briefing. Barnes said earlier in the day that all of the injured victims were students.
"Today is a sad, sad day, not only for Madison but for our entire country," Barnes said.
A second-grade student called 911 to report an active shooter at 10:57 a.m. local time at the school in Madison, about 80 miles west of Milwaukee, Barnes confirmed. The school was evacuated and officers swept through the school.
Barnes identified the shooter Monday night as Natalie Rupnow, 15, who went by Samantha and attended Abundant Life. He said the shooter was pronounced dead on the way to a local hospital and appeared to die from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
According to Barnes, officers did not fire their weapons and there was no further threat to the public.
Police at one point said the fatalities included four victims plus the shooter, but later lowered the number to two. Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said four people were transported to SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, while others were taken to University of Wisconsin hospitals.
Firearm recovered after shooting
Authorities recovered a handgun they believe was used in the shooting, according to Barnes. He said Monday night that the shooting occurred in a classroom during study hall with students of different grades.
Barnes said the suspected shooter's family was cooperating with authorities, who are investigating why the teen opened fire and how she obtained a weapon.
Today truly is a sad day for Madison and for our country," Barnes said. "It is a day that I believe will live in our collective minds for a very, very long time."
Second grader called 911 to report shooting
Authorities revealed harrowing details about how police were alerted to a deadly shooting that unfolded hours earlier at the private Wisconsin school.
Barnes told reporters Monday night that a second grader alerted police to the shooter. Minutes after the student's phone call, first responders were in the building.
“A second-grade student called 911 to report a shooting had occurred at school. I'm going to let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes said. He added that 911 dispatchers are trained to talk to children through difficult circumstances, including parents choking, CPR, and even giving birth.
So they are trained to do that. But to me, it makes my heart skip a beat to think about that,” Barnes said.
Latest school shooting to rock the nation
There have been 322 school shootings this year in the U.S., according to the K-12 School Shooting Database website. That is the second-highest total of any year since 1966, according to that database — topped only by last year's total of 349 such shootings.
"We need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence," Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said.
Monday's shooting took place 12 years after one of the most notorious school shootings in U.S. history — the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A 20-year-old man armed with a semiautomatic rifle killed 20 school children plus six adults who worked at the school.
