What we know about the Madison, Wisconsin, school shooting that left a student and teacher dead

CNN

By Elizabeth Wolfe, Chris Boyette and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN

(CNN) — A shooting at a small Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, left a teenage student and a teacher dead and several others injured, casting the small religious community into mourning just days before the school was going to close for Christmas.

Police rushed to Abundant Life Christian School just before 11 a.m. Monday in response to reports of an active shooter, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.

In addition to the two people killed, another six are injured, according to police, including two students with life-threatening injuries in critical condition. A teacher and two other students received non-life-threatening injuries, according to Barnes.

The shooting suspect, a teenage student, was also found dead at the scene, according to the police chief.

Authorities identified Natalie Rupnow, 15, who went by the name “Samantha,” as the shooter, according to the city’s police chief. Evidence suggests the shooter died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Barnes said at a Monday night news conference.

“Today truly is a sad day for Madison and for our country. It is a day that I believe will live in our collective minds for a very, very long time,” Barnes said during a news conference earlier Monday.

Now, 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.

Abundant Life posted on its social media to ask that the public, “please pray for our Challenger Family” as they grapple with the attack.

“I hoped that this day would never come in Madison,” Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said Monday at a news conference. “It is not something that any mayor, any fire chief, any police chief, any person in public office ever wants to have to deal with.”

Follow our live coverage here.

Here’s what we know so far.

How the shooting and response unfolded

Just 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.

But as the school day got underway, investigators believe the suspect 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 “learning” part of the school.

At 10:57 a.m., the Madison Police Department received a 911 call from inside the school, Barnes said.

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 at a news conference.

The first officers arrived at the school at 11 a.m. and immediately entered the building, Barnes said.

“When officers arrived, they found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,” Barnes said.

Police also found the body of a teenage student whom they believe to be the shooter, the police chief said. He declined to provide the gender, age or name of the suspect.

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.”

The K-12 school serves approximately 420 students, according to school administrators. The school’s website boasts “smaller class sizes” catering to students from about 200 families in the Dane County area.

The attack has “rocked” the Abundant Life community, which sees itself as a large family, Wiers said.

“We know it affects not just our school community, but Madison and the greater area and all schools,” Wiers told reporters. “So our hope is that there will be some good that comes out of this as we can learn and grow and continue to support schools.”

Wiers spoke to parents at the reunification center, and they were amazingly patient and kind, she said, adding they were all affected even if their child wasn’t directly impacted.

“Because what affects one part of the body, affects all of it, as we know the Bible says,” she said. She said the school family believes God was not surprised by the shooting and is “going to do something mighty with it.”

Investigators execute search warrants

Federal and local investigators are working to determine the timeline of events, the suspect’s motive and details about the firearm used in the shooting.

Law enforcement officials are now 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. The suspect’s family has so far been cooperating with law enforcement.

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.

It is unclear whether the suspected shooter had any prior contact with law enforcement, Barnes said.

“I did do a check of the school,” the police chief said. “There were some calls, but they were like 911 hang-ups, things of that nature. There was nothing that suggested that the school was a place that violence would occur.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will trace the gun used in the attack to determine its origin, according to police.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, a White House spokesperson said.

“Senior White House officials are in touch with local counterparts in Madison to provide support as needed,” senior deputy press secretary Emilie Simons said.

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.

“Many of you have asked me about the ‘why’ of this. ‘Why did this happen? What do we know? What was the motivation?’” Barnes told reporters Monday. “I do not know, but I will tell you this: Our detectives are working hard in the investigative process to find out as many answers as we can so that we can further prevent these things from happening, not only in this community, but in other communities around our country.”

“I think we can all agree that enough is enough. We have to come together to do everything we can to support our students, to prevent press conferences like these from happening again and again and again,” Barnes said.

CNN’s Elise Hammond, Aditi Sangal, Josh Campbell, Alex Leeds Matthews, Gillian Roberts and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

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