Teen student identified as suspect in Abundant Life Christian School shooting

The shooting occurred in a classroom during study hall, police said.

The study hall had students in mixed grades when the 15-year-old female student opened fire, Barnes said.

Madison police investigating today’s shooting are aware of a document online and are looking into it to learn more, Barnes said.

“A document about this shooting is circulating at this time on social media, but we have not verified its authenticity,” Barnes said.

Police are working to determine the motive, he said.

Police have spoken to the shooter’s parents, and they are fully cooperative, he said. Police are also searching the shooter’s home, he said.

Madison’s chief of police was asked about comments online that suggest the shooter may have been trans.

“I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not,” Barnes said at a news conference tonight.

“I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify,” he said. “And I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this.”

Barnes said a motive is under investigation. The shooter, who is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, has been identified by Barnes as Natalie Rupnow.

He said he has seen things on social media that “frankly are incorrect, that are not true.”

“So, whether or not she was, he was, they were transgender is something that may come out later — but for what we’re doing right now, today, literally eight hours after a mass shooting in a school in Madison, it is of no consequence at this time,” Barnes said.

“And so I would encourage people to be responsible with your social media,” he said.

Update Dec. 17, 2024: Barnes said Tuesday that it was a second-grade teacher who made the 911 call, not a student. Please click here for the latest updates.

A second grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report the shooting, the police chief said.

“Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes said at a news conference this evening. “A second grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a shooting at school.”

A teacher and a teenage student were killed, and the shooter, who was 15 years old, died of what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he said.

Six other students and a teacher were also injured, Barnes said. Two injured students remain in critical condition tonight, he said.

The person who opened fire at a Madison, Wisconsin, school today was a 15-year-old female student, the police chief said tonight.

Barnes said Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha, died en route to a hospital of what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Barnes said. The county medical examiner will make an official determination of the cause and manner of death, he said.

A motive is still under investigation, Barnes said.

Investigators have talked to the shooter’s family and searched the home, Barnes said. The parents are “fully cooperating,” Barnes said.

Madison’s police chief late this afternoon called on the public to report troubling behaviors that could lead to violence like today’s school shooting.

“Pre-planned or planned shootings, we believe, are preventable,” Barnes said at a late afternoon news conference. “If you see warning behaviors from someone that is planning an attack, say something, do something.”

A motive in the shooting, which killed two people, is under investigation. The shooter, described as a teenager, is also dead.

“Targeted violence is preventable,” said Trish Kilpin, director of the office of school safety with the Wisconsin Justice Department. “When somebody conducts a school shooting, they don’t snap. They don’t just decide one day to engage in this egregious behavior.

“Instead, they make a decision and start research and planning toward an act of violence,” she said. “And when they’re on that pathway to violence, they often demonstrate observable behaviors that others notice.”

Kilpin said that in 82% of cases, someone else knows about a shooter’s plans to attack a school.

At a news briefing this evening, the police chief confirmed that police activity at a home in Madison’s north side was related to the investigation into this morning’s school shooting.

Officers at a home on Delaware Boulevard this evening said a search warrant had been executed there.

Neighbors confirmed the police activity at the home, which by this evening had no front door.

Neighbors told NBC affiliate WTMJ of Milwaukee that police threw two flash-bang devices at the home, one through the door and one through the window.

John Diaz de Leon II was home watching TV around 11 a.m. when suddenly he heard police and ambulance sirens in the otherwise quiet neighborhood.

De Leon and his wife live about a block from Abundant Life Christian School, which their children attended when they were young. They decided to build their home near the school in the late 1980s after having met with school officials and decided Abundant Life felt like a great fit for their growing family.

But today, he knew something wasn’t right when “not one, not two, but three and then more” sirens approached the neighborhood.

De Leon saw dozens of students evacuating the school when he stepped outside, he said. The older students walked quickly across the parking lot toward a church, while younger students held hands as school personnel led them outside.

He also saw two police officers with what he described as “long guns” approach the school with dogs by their sides.

“This is the last school in Madison you would have thought this would happen,” he said. “The threat has passed, but it ain’t over.”

Students told to lock down after today’s shooting knew the situation was not a drill and “handled themselves magnificently,” a school official said.

“They were clearly scared. … When we practice we always say, ‘This a drill, this is just a drill,’” Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said at an evening news conference.

“When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown’ and nothing else, they knew it was real, and they handled themselves brilliantly,” she said.

Wiers said that she was teaching at the time and that after the alert she worked to secure the door and move the children to a safe part of the room.

Police said they are still investigating a possible motive in today’s deadly shooting, Barnes said in an update this evening.

“At this time, we’re still working on a motive, trying to determine why this happened,” Barnes said.

The age, gender and name of the shooter were not released. Another police update is scheduled for later.

“We do not want to compromise any part of the investigation,” Barnes said.

All surviving students have been reunited with their families and loved ones, Barnes said this evening.

Two students remained in critical condition at a hospital, and their injuries are life-threatening, Barnes said.

Four people were also injured, a teacher and three students, he said. Those injuries are not life-threatening, and two of those injured people have been released from the hospital, he said.

President Joe Biden called today’s school shooting “shocking and unconscionable” in a statement pressing Congress to “act now” on gun legislation.

Among the changes Biden described as “commonsense” gun laws were: universal background checks, a national red flag law, and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

“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. “We cannot continue to accept it as normal.”

He also offered condolences to the victims’ families while expressing gratitude to the first responders at Abundant Life Christian School.

Emotional support animals were taken to the site where students are waiting to be bused to the reunification center.

The therapy dogs were seen being walked in to the area on NBC affiliate WMTV of Madison as students sat in a church while officials organized them onto city buses to be taken to the health clinic where their families are gathered.

Some younger students have already been taken to the reunification center, WMTV reported.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers thanked law enforcement and first responders in a new statement for their response to today’s shooting. He also ordered the flags of Wisconsin and the U.S. lowered to half-staff until Sunday.

“As a father, a grandfather, and as governor, it is unthinkable that a kid or an educator might wake up and go to school one morning and never come home. This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a foregone reality or stop working to change it,” he said.

Evers also said “there are no words to describe the devastation and heartbreak” he feels.

Law enforcement officials have been in touch with the suspected shooter’s parents, police said.

Authorities have not identified or provided any details about the suspected shooter except that they were a teenage student at the school. Police found the believed shooter dead at the scene and did not fire their own guns.

“As difficult as today is, that’s still someone’s child that’s gone that’s still someone that has to deal with what happened today,” Barnes said. “And so we want to make sure that we can ensure as much cooperation as we can.”

Barnes declined to comment on whether the death was a suicide, noting that a medical examiner will determine the cause of death. A motive has not been determined.

When the 911 call came in about a shooting this morning, a group of officers were in training for that type of scenario just 3 miles away.

The Madison Police Department’s “special event team medics” work with the fire department to prepare for emergencies, Barnes said. Officers left the training center and raced to Abundant Life Christian School, where they found multiple people with gunshot wounds.

“So what began as a training day became an actual thing, and so that’s how this call originally came in,” Barnes said.

Officers found a handgun at Abundant Life Christian School, Barnes said.

Barnes did not elaborate on the weapon. He said the shooting was confined to one space. It’s unclear whether it was a classroom or a hallway. He said the crime scene is on “lockdown.”

Students are not being rushed into interviews, Barnes said, which is also why some questions remain unanswered.

“We’re going to give them an opportunity to come in and speak to what they may have saw when they feel ready,” he said.

A teenage student and a teacher were killed at Abundant Life Christian School today, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters.

At least two other students are in critical condition, and four others are recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.

Barnes said the suspected shooter is a teenager but declined to provide additional information.

Survivors took buses to a reunification center. Officials believe a student was responsible for the shooting.

An alumna of Abundant Life Christian School said she heard about the shooting at her alma mater from friends and on social media.

Former student Courtney Rae has four members of her family enrolled there. She immediately texted her parents in Wisconsin to ensure that her three brothers and her cousin were safe. A relative told her they are waiting to be reunited with family and were not harmed, Rae said.

Beyond that, she has heard few details about what happened other than what she can glean from news reports, she added.

“I feel sad and helpless,” said Rae, who lives in Florida. “People send their kids to Christian school hoping it’s safer than public school and that things like this would never happen at a Christian school.”

The FBI office in Milwaukee is on the scene assisting local law enforcement. The office said it would provide updates as more information becomes available.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said on social media he is monitoring the situation in his district.

“My office is aware of reports of a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison,” he wrote. “We are in touch with local law enforcement, and will continue to monitor the situation and offer any assistance we can provide to our first responders.”

In recent days, Pocan has called on Congress to pass gun laws on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He wrote, “It is long past time for Congress to stand up to the NRA and pass commonsense gun safety laws that will save lives.”

After his initial post today, he emphasized a similar sentiment, writing “let’s hope for the best and be ready for the lack of action on guns by this Congress.”

Pocan was even more blunt in a later post: “Thoughts and prayers without action means more school shootings, more dead kids. More ACTION is needed by our elected officials.”

“And more BACKBONE to stand up to gun manufacturers,” he wrote. “This is uniquely a United States problem that doesn’t have to happen.”

In a statement on Facebook, Abundant Life Christian School requested prayers for its community and said it would share updates as it has them.

“Prayers Requested! Today, we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are in the midst of following up. We will share information as we are able. Please pray for our Challenger Family,” the school wrote.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, Emilie Simons, the White House senior deputy press secretary said in a post on X.

“The President has been briefed on the school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. Senior White House officials are in touch with local counterparts in Madison to provide support as needed,” her post read.

The Madison Police Department confirmed that three people have been killed, including the suspected shooter, and six people injured.

Police Chief Shon Barnes was speaking to reporters earlier today when it appeared the death toll had risen to five in the middle of the press conference, but police now say that was incorrect.

Bethany Highman learned that a shooting had taken place at Abundant Life Christian School, where her children attend classes in Madison, Wisconsin, through a call from her mother.

The shooter was a student at the school and is now among the dead, police believe.

Madison police officers are still investigating and collecting evidence, but a juvenile found dead at the school is believed to be the shooter at Abundant Life Christian School this morning.

No officers fired weapons in their response to the shooting, Police Chief Barnes told reporters.

At least seven people were transported to area hospitals for treatment after officers administered “lifesaving efforts” to anyone they found wounded, Barnes said.

Barnes did not provide information on how many were students or staff. The police incident website said that the injuries “range from minor to life-threatening.

At least five people have died in the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters.

Officers found multiple gunshot wound victims after responding to an active shooter call at the school at 10:57 a.m., including an unidentified juvenile who Barnes said could be the shooter.

“Today is a sad, sad, day,” Barnes said. “Not just for Madison, but for our entire country.”

Officers are still working to clear the school.

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson responded to reports of the shooting, in which multiple injuries have been reported, in post on X.

“My sincere condolences and prayers for all the victims of the tragedy at Abundant Life Christian School,” Johnson wrote. “I will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

The Abundant Life Christian School is a private Christian school founded in 1978, teaching children from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to its website.

Its campus spans 28 acres that serves as one of three Impact Christian Schools campuses. The school’s website also says that it has approximately 335 students.

Abundant Life Christian School boasts of small class sizes with a “warm and respectful atmosphere.”

A public safety alert went out at 11:20 a.m. to phones in the area, NBC affiliate WMTV reported.

“Per Madison PD- Police activity on 4900 block of East Buckeye Road in Madison. Avoid the area,” the alert said, according to a screenshot.

A local resident told the news station that she heard gunshots.

Police are investigating a possible shooting with multiple injuries reported at Abundant Life Christian School.

The Madison Police Department have lined the street leading to the school and have blocked off Buckeye Road, asking the community to avoid the area.

Parents have gathered at a reunification site at a nearby health clinic, according to NBC News affiliate WMTV.