Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes addressed the tragic shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, where three people, including the 15-year-old suspected shooter, lost their lives, and several others were injured. The community is reeling as authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Madison, Wisconsin, officials held an update Tuesday but provided few details about their investigation into Monday's deadly shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, which left multiple people injured and three dead. Among those killed was the 15-year-old suspected shooter -- a female student -- who appeared to have died in the building by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
"The past 24 hours have been a flurry of emotion, sadness, anger and disappointment," Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said as the update began.
During the briefing, Barnes said officials were looking into the suspected shooter's social media and online activity prior to the shooting. Barnes also acknowledged that a document was circulating online and on social media, but that police could not verify if it was posted by the alleged shooter.
“Again, we are working to authenticate the document that you see online that some are referring to as a manifesto,” Barnes said. "At this time, we cannot verify its authenticity."
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Barnes went on to say that identifying a motive was the department's "top priority," and that that the motive appeared to be a "combination of factors," but didn't elaborate further.
Barnes also said the department was investigating the suspected shooter's social media activity prior to the shooting, and asked for the public to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers if they "have insights [into the suspected shooter's] feelings leading up to yesterday."
In response to a question of whether certain students or teachers were targeted, Barnes said "everyone" was targeted in the incident.
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"Everyone was put in equal danger," Barnes stressed.
Barnes also clarified that the first 911 call Monday came from a second-grade teacher. Barnes had previously said the call came from a second-grade student.
“There is so much that we do not know and we have to allow law enforcement the time and space for a careful and methodical examination,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said during the update. "Please remember that you're human, and to take care of yourselves. We all need to do that."
Names of those injured or killed were not released, with Madison police declining to take questions.
"I'm going to say this, and then we're done," a visibly irritated Rhodes-Conway said at the end of the update. "It is absolutely non of y 'all's business who was harmed in this incident. Please, have some human decency, and respect for the people who lost loved ones, or were injured themselves, or whose children were injured. Just have some human decency. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal."
What we know about the suspect
Barnes on Monday identified the person responsible for the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School as Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha. Evidence suggested the teen died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, although the official cause of death had yet to be released by the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office late Monday.
Barnes said they were speaking with the shooter’s father at one of their facilities and that he’s cooperating.
“He lost someone as well. And so we’re not going to rush the information, we’ll take our time and certainly do our due diligence,” Barnes said.
Speaking on CNN, Barnes said law enforcement was trying to put together a timeline of the shooter’s last hours before she went to the school.
Barnes said they’ve asked the ATF to expedite determining the origin of the gun used in the shooting and how the 15-year-old got her hands on it. He said he’s not certain if the weapon was owned or possessed by her parents.
Asked if her parents could be charged with a crime, Barnes said they were voluntarily giving information, but he also wanted to look at whether the parents were negligent. But at this time, he said that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Two prominent cases of parents facing criminal charges after their children are accused in school shootings have come in Michigan and Georgia in recent years.
The website for the anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety shows that there have been at least 202 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 56 deaths and 147 injuries, in 2024. That data doesn’t include the latest shooting in Madison.
The deadliest school shooting in 2024 happened in September at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
Last year, 45 people died in 158 school shootings, the Everytown for Gun Safety website shows. Sixty-seven people died in 181 school shootings in 2022, according to the data.
What is Abundant Life Christian School?
Abundant Life Christian School is nondenominational and has about 420 students from pre-kindergarten through high school, according to Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations for Abundant Life Christian School.
The school serves approximately 200 families from some 56 different churches in the greater Dane County area, its website said, including metropolitan Madison and its surrounding communities.
Wiers said at a news briefing Monday afternoon that the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras. She also said guns are not allowed on campus and that the school regularly practices safety routines.
“When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,” she said.
Wiers said just before the school year, they had done a retraining with the Madison Police Department, so it was “very fresh for faculty.”
The school asked for prayers in a post on its Facebook page on Monday.
What we know about the victims
According to Barnes, at least three people were killed in the shooting, including the suspected teen shooter. A teacher and another teenage student were also killed, police said.
Six others -- five students and a teacher -- were injured, Barnes said. Of those, two students were last listed in critical condition, police said. The others were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Rhodes-Conway offered condolences to victims and their families, who support will be provided to in the days ahead.
"This is an incredibly sad day for our community," the mayor said. "As you've heard, there is no danger to our community at this time, but our entire community has been impacted by this tragic incident."
Rhodes-Conway urged anyone who needs mental health support as a result of the shooting and the ensuing coverage to reach out to 988 -- the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline -- by phone or text.
"It is incredibly important that we take care of our community in this very difficult time," she said. "We all have a role in preventing gun violence. Our entire community needs to be part of the solution here."
In a statement released Monday, President Joe Biden said his team has reached out to local officials to offer further support, while saying it's "unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence."
"We cannot continue to accept it as normal," the president said. "Every child deserves to feel safe in their class room. Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover."
'Why did they do that, why?'
A number of students, parents and community members were asking left asking questions as the search for a possible motive continued Monday night.
"I was scared and why did they do that, why?" said one student, Adler Jean Charles.
Adler said gunshots erupted while he was in English class.
"We heard them and then some people started crying and then we just waited til the police came," he said.
For hours, Adler and his classmates waited at a nearby medical clinic used for a reunification center. His mother told NBC Chicago about the moment she recognized her children were safe.
"It’s joyful and tearful at the same time," said Mireille Jean Charles, the mother of Adler and two other students. "Because one of them could be there dying … all three of them got out safely which is a blessing, and I am not taking it for granted."
"This is not okay," Mireille Jean Charles added. "If your kids are at school they are not okay, if they are at church, they are not okay. I they are outside, they are not okay. Where are they going to be safe?"
