Madison, Wisconsin Christian school mass shooting

Post Reply New Topic

A teacher and teenage student were killed and six students were hurt in a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, police said.

Police had briefly mentioned a higher death toll but later revised the information.

The suspect, a teenage student at the school, is also dead, police said. The suspect used a handgun, police said.

A motive is not clear, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference.

Of the six injured students, two are in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, Barnes said. Four other students suffered non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

The shooting was "confined to one space," but it’s not clear if it was a classroom or hallway, the chief said.

"I never saw so many police cars in my life -- just blue and red lights lining the school, lining the streets. Fire department, paramedics, everybody was there," swarming the usually quiet neighborhood, John Diaz De Leon told ABC News Live.

He said he saw officers with long guns at the scene and older students run from the school across the parking lot.

“Later on, very slowly in a more orderly fashion, the younger students holding hands were let out to go across the parking lot," he said.

The school has been cleared, Barnes said. There's no danger to the community, he said.

The suspect’s family is cooperating, the police chief said.

Officials are working to reunite students with their parents. About 390 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the school.

The police chief said he began his career as a teacher.

The shooter at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison was female, a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting tells CNN.

Authorities identified Natalie Rupnow, 15, who went by the name “Samantha,” as the shooter, according to Barnes. Evidence suggests the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said, and confirmed she was pronounced dead while en route to the hospital.

A second-grade student made the 911 call to report the shooting, police said Monday.

“How does any 15-year-old get a hold of a gun? Or anyone for that matter? We get into the philosophical questions of guns and gun safety,” Barnes said at the news conference.

Federal and local law enforcement are combing over the crime scene, working to uncover the suspect’s motive and preparing to support the heartbroken school community as they find themselves at the center of a distinctly American tragedy.

The attack at Abundant Life is at least the 83rd school shooting of 2024, surpassing 2023 for the most school shootings in a single year since CNN began tracking such shootings in 2008. Of the 83 school shootings this year, 56 have been reported on K-12 campuses and 27 on university and college campuses. The deadliest school shooting of the year was in Winder, Georgia, where four victims were left dead at Apalachee High School.

How the shooting and response unfolded
hours before the shooting began, students from kindergarten to high school filed onto the school’s 28-acre campus to sit through the last week of classes before Christmas vacation. They had a week of festivities to look forward to, including a holiday concert and an Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, according to the school’s website.

The suspected shooter entered the school at the beginning of the day with the rest of the students, police said.

As the school day got underway, the shooter pulled out a handgun and opened fire on their peers, Barnes said. The shooting was “confined to one space,” the chief said, adding later it was a “classroom in a study hall of students from mixed grades.”

At 10:57 a.m., a second-grade student called 911 to report the shooting, Barnes said. “Let that soak in for a minute,” he remarked.

A deputy from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office was the first to arrive on the scene at 11:00 a.m., followed by the first Madison police officer just 24 seconds later, who immediately entered the school.

Medics with the police department were conducting training about three miles away and raced to respond to the shooting, Barnes said.

“They left the training center immediately and came down here — and doing in real time what they were actually practicing for,” Barnes said.

“When officers arrived, they found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,” Barnes said. Within minutes, officers reported the shooter was down and a gun had been recovered.

Police cleared the school building and all students were accounted for and reunited with their families, Barnes said.

“They were clearly scared,” Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations for Abundant Life, said of the students when they realized it wasn’t a drill. “When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown’ and nothing else – they knew it was real, but they handled themselves brilliantly.”

Sixth grader Adler Jean-Charle, who was in class with his twin brother at the time of the shooting, said, “We heard them and then some people started crying. Then we just waited until the police came to escort us out to the church.”

He recalled hearing two gunshots, and questioned, “Why did they do that?” Adler said he felt a sense of relief upon seeing his mother afterward, “I was happy and safe.”

Who is the suspect?
15-year-old Natalie Rupnow attended the private school along with some 420 students in grades Kindergarten through 12, according to school administrators. The school’s website boasts “smaller class sizes” catering to students from about 200 families in the Dane County area.

Police emphasized the need for greater responsibility on social media regarding posts about the shooter, when asked about her gender identity, and urged people on the internet to leave out their personal biases.

“I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not. And quite frankly, I don’t think that’s important at all,” Barnes said. “I don’t think whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may want to identify.”

Ongoing investigation as police seek motive
Federal and local investigators are working to determine the shooter’s motive and details about the firearm used in the shooting.

While police have not revealed any prior interactions with Rupnow or any known issues, they said they are exploring all avenues to uncover a motive and are actively engaging with Rupnow’s family, who are fully cooperating.

Authorities have been unable to identify the authenticity of a manifesto, Barnes said.

“We’re certainly aware that it’s been posted and the person who posted it, alleged to have a connection with the victim,” he said, adding authorities have not located the person who made the post, but have shared information with the FBI for help.

The suspect’s father is speaking with police at one of their facilities, Barnes said, adding police are trying to determine what he may or may not know. Authorities do not intend to charge the parents of the suspect “at this time,” Barnes announced.

Law enforcement officials are working to interview witnesses, and students are being encouraged to speak only when they feel ready, the police chief said.

“We’re not going to interrogate students. We’re going to give them an opportunity to come in and speak to what they may have saw when they feel ready, which is why some of these questions can’t be answered,” Barnes said.

The suspect’s home was searched Monday and police are seeking additional search warrants, Barnes said.

A heavy police presence was reported at a home in northern Madison Monday night. Barnes confirmed it is related to the shooting investigation but provided no further details.

Neighbors saw police throw stun grenades, which detonate with a bright flash and loud bang, into the home earlier in the afternoon, CNN affiliate WTMJ reported. Video shared with CNN showed the home decorated with Christmas lights and cordoned off with police tape. The main door had been removed and the windows damaged.

President Joe Biden called for more government action to address gun violence after the shooting, including universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The motive for a shooting that killed a teacher and a student and wounded others at a Wisconsin school appears to be a “combination of factors,” a police chief said Tuesday as he appealed to the public to share what they might know about the 15-year-old girl who attacked a study hall before shooting herself.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes offered no details about a possible motive, though he said bullying at Abundant Life Christian School would be investigated.

Barnes said police are also investigating writings that may have been penned by Natalie Rupnow and could shed light on her actions.

“Identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive is a combination of factors,” the chief told reporters.

A California man was detained by the FBI and ordered to have his guns temporarily seized after he allegedly communicated with the 15-year-old shooter who killed two people at her Wisconsin school, documents show.

The gun violence emergency protective order was served to Alexander Paffendorf, 20, in Carlsbad in San Diego County on Tuesday, according to the order, which was obtained by NBC San Diego.

The narrative of the order says the California man had communicated with Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, who police say opened fire Monday at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, which she attended, killing two people before she killed herself.

The FBI detained him “after he was discovered plotting a mass shooting with the Madison Wisconsin shooter,” a Carlsbad police officer wrote in the gun order.

Paffendorf “admitted to the FBI agents that he told Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” the Carlsbad officer wrote.

The FBI saw messages between him and Rupnow, the order says. It does not go into further detail about the communication or the alleged plans.

The order was approved by a San Diego County judge and served at the Carlsbad home just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, it shows. A court hearing about the order is set for Jan. 3, the document reads.

The order says guns were reported and searched for, but it does not say police seized any. The order requires someone to turn over firearms and not to possess any guns while it is in effect.

It’s not clear whether there are any criminal charges in the matter. None of the agencies mentioned criminal charges, and a spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

No cases with Paffendorf's name appeared in an online search of criminal cases in the county Wednesday night.

A phone number for Paffendorf or his family could not immediately be found in public records Wednesday.

“There is no threat to the Carlsbad community at this time,” Carlsbad police said in a statement.

The Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin’s capital remains a crime scene as detectives search for a motive in the deadly Monday morning shooting carried out by a student and probe her possible links to a California man who authorities say was planning another mass shooting.

The campus remains closed as investigators comb through social media and documents to understand how 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha, got a firearm used in the killings at the private school in Madison.

Rupnow used a handgun to carry out the attack, authorities said. The handgun and a second gun not used in the attack were found at the scene, Madison police said Wednesday. The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has traced the origins of the weapons, but police won’t provide further information on the guns, “as it could jeopardize our investigation,” a police statement said.

As Wisconsin detectives search for the motive behind the shooting, the public face of the investigation – Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes – will be leaving the department, the city announced Friday.

Barnes, who was a teacher before becoming a police officer and Madison’s top cop, will become Seattle’s new police chief, the Seattle mayor’s office said.

Details have not been finalized on when Barnes will leave MPD or who will take over updating the public on the shooting investigation, a city spokesperson told CNN.

There is ‘no threat’ in 2 states, officials say
A neighbor, Alex Gallegos, said he witnessed authorities carrying out “a big black box” during a search of Paffendorf’s residence this week, when he saw about 15 police officers on the quiet street. “It looked like a gun case of some sort, and that’s all I know,” Gallegos said.

The Carlsbad Police Department told CNN there is no threat to the city.

“We are in communication with our federal partners, and we do not believe there to be a threat to our city,” the police department said in a statement, adding it did not have additional details to share.

The FBI said it is also “not aware of any ongoing threats associated with this matter in Wisconsin or California,” the agency said in a statement to CNN.

What we know about the shooter’s life
The mayor of Madison said it is too early to comment on whether the parents of the shooter will face criminal charges, as have a few other parents of US school shooters in recent years.

Investigators are looking at “if the parents may have been negligent,” the police chief said Tuesday. He also said investigators “have no reason to believe that they have committed a crime at this time.”

Rupnow’s parents, Jeff and Mellissa Rupnow, have not responded to CNN’s repeated requests for comment. They have been cooperating with police, Barnes has said.

Court records obtained by CNN show Rupnow’s parents have been married to each other and divorced from each other twice, with court orders requiring the teen to split time between her mother’s home and her father’s, court records obtained by CNN show.

Jeff Rupnow had posted a photo on Facebook of his daughter at a shooting range in August. In the photo, the teenager can be seen wearing a black shirt with the name of the band KMFDM.

The German band’s lyrics were cited by the students who carried out the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, where 13 people were killed and a song by the band was featured in a TikTok video posted moments before a 17-year-old unleashed gunfire at Iowa’s Perry High School, killing a sixth grader and wounding seven other people in January.

KMFDM issued a statement condemning the 1999 attack and expressed sympathy for the victims, adding their music was intended to stand against violence, according to Reuters.

Police in Wisconsin are also talking to Abundant Life Christian School students to determine whether bullying was one of the factors in Monday’s shooting, Barnes said.

Mackynzie Wilson, a sophomore at the school who had a locker next to Rupnow’s, said she never thought the student she described as shy would be capable of carrying out an act of such violence.

“She was really quiet. She didn’t really have any friends, and she just seemed really lonely,” Wilson told CNN. “It wasn’t like she was trying to fit in. She seemed very content being alone.”

Victim fights for life as families plan funerals for others
A funeral service will be held for West, a teacher employed part-time by the school, on Monday. Students described West as a loving person who devoted her time to supporting them.

Angel Brube, a seventh-grader at the school, told CNN he knew the teacher well and described her as “always very kind and caring.”

Vergara was an animal lover who was passionate about art, reading, singing and playing music, according to her online obituary. Her funeral will be held on Saturday.

West and Vergara died of “homicidal firearm related trauma,” preliminary autopsy results found. The medical examiner’s office said it will be conducting additional testing.

Meanwhile, the family of a student who suffered life-threatening injuries in Monday’s shooting is asking for prayers and privacy as they focus on their son’s recovery.

The boy, referred to as Samy in a Facebook post, remains in critical condition, according to the post by Marcio Sierra Jr., the senior pastor at Lighthouse Church in Madison.

He said the family are members of the church and he’s been in daily contact with them. The family asked him to be their voice to the community, he said.

“They ask that you please continue to pray for Samy, he needs a miracle. The family understands the power of prayer, and they know that Samy is in God’s hands,” Sierra wrote.

“For now, their request is that we stand with them in prayer and speak life over Samy,” he wrote.

Residents and officials call for action
Hundreds gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol on Tuesday night to remember victims. A Christmas tree twinkled as mourners met in freezing temperatures to grieve, holding candles and hugging therapy dogs.

For students like Wilson, it was difficult returning to the school for the vigil because of the “fear and trauma that built up,” she said.

Madison local Justin Myers brought his two young children to the Tuesday vigil, telling CNN he had “told them the truth” about what happened at Abundant Life.

“It’s an epidemic, and I’m not a big believer in the thoughts and prayers crap –– I don’t think it works,” he added. “We need action, legislation and laws to make sure that guns don’t get into the hands of people who don’t have them.”

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan called for more action from Congress to address gun violence.

“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 in a statement Monday.

Existing Wisconsin law limiting gun access to children is not sufficient, Dane County Executive Melissa Agard said Tuesday. “Our laws in Wisconsin are far too lax when it comes to access of guns by children,” Agard said Tuesday.

“We should have background checks. We should have red flag bills, we should be providing adequate support for everyone in our community when it comes to behavioral health,” Agard added.

Both federal and Wisconsin law generally make it illegal for someone younger than 18 to possess a firearm. State law similarly makes it illegal for any person to intentionally sell, loan or give a dangerous weapon to someone younger than 18 –– but there are exceptions such as allowing minors to possess a firearm for target practice under adult supervision, for use in the armed forces or for hunting.

Wisconsin also has a child access firearm law that makes it illegal to recklessly store a loaded firearm within reach or easy access of a child younger than 14, with penalties of up to nine months in prison if that child takes the firearm without permission and if the child uses the gun and “causes bodily harm or death to himself, herself or another.”