A GIRL who was shot dead after her female classmate opened fire at their school has been identified with her family paying tribute.
Natalie Rupnow, 15, gunned down students and teachers at the Abundant Life Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday.
A student and a teacher were killed in the rampage before Rupnow, 15, turned the gun on herself.
She was pronounced dead in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, cops said.
Six additional people were injured as chaos unfolded inside a classroom containing mixed-grade students just days before Christmas.
Now the student who was killed has been identified as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison, in an obituary released on Wednesday.
She was a freshman at the school and an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band, according to the obituary.
“She shared a special bond with her beloved pets, Ginger (cat) and Coco (dog),” the tribute adds.
The funeral will be held on Sunday in Madison with the family asking for donations to be made to the school in lieu of flowers.
The Associated Press’ attempts to reach the girl’s family by phone and email on Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.
The city’s police chief said in an interview on Wednesday the shooter had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes expressed, “We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we’ll do our best to try to add or give as much information to our public as possible.”
The Dane County medical examiner identified the teacher who was killed as 42-year-old Michelle E. West on Wednesday evening.
Barnes released the name of the shooter – Natalie Samantha Rupnow – hours after the shooting on Monday.
Chief Barnes mentioned that the medical examiner would unveil the identities of the deceased, while the state’s law on privacy for crime victims would prevent the disclosure of the names of the wounded.
Efforts to ascertain the reason behind the shooting were underway, as police collaborated with the FBI to investigate online records, consult other sources, and interview the individual’s parents and peers to uncover a potential motive, Chief Barnes disclosed.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.
“I do not know if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said.
“To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
Abundant Life Christian School shooting timeline
On December 16, a student at Abundant Life Christian School opened fire on the private K-12 school in Madison, Wisconsin. Below is a timeline of the events that unfolded:
10:57 am – A second-grade student calls 911 to report the shooting
11:00 am – Cops arrive on the scene and immediately enter the school
11:05 am – Cops find the shooter down and recover the gun
11:14 am – School is started to be cleared
11:20 am – Public safety alert is sent out to nearby phones
11:38 pm – Madison Police Department confirms multiple people are injured
12:15 pm – Cops hold a press conference and confirm three people are dead, including the shooter, and at least six others injured
12:38 pm – Abundant Life Christian School requests prayers on Facebook
2:30 pm – At a second press conference, cops confirm the shooter was a teen who attended the school
8:30 pm – Cops confirm shooter was student Natalie Rupnow, 15, who died while being transported to the hospital
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.
Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow.
They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents.
Divorce records indicate that Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don’t say why.
Tension over police not releasing information had spilled over into a news conference on Tuesday, where Barnes left without taking questions.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway grew increasingly terse in her responses as reporters asked questions she could not answer.
“It is absolutely none of yalls business who was harmed in this incident,” Rhodes-Conway said.
“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, folks. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal.
“Don’t feed off their pain. We’ll share what we can when we can and not before that.”
Barnes on Wednesday defended the police department’s handling of information about the shooting because it has moved from a crisis response to the investigation phase.
“We’ve been trying to be as transparent as possible to give as much information as we can during the critical phase of this incident,” Barnes said.
“Now we’re in the investigative phase. And so the information may not be as forthcoming.”
What to know about Abundant Life Christian School shooting
Three people are dead after a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 16.
Cops say student Natalie Rupnow, 15, stormed campus with a 9mm pistol and killed a teacher and student before turning the gun on herself.
Six others, believed to be all students, were wounded and two were in critical condition. They’ve since been stabilized.
A total of 420 students are enrolled at the K-12 Christian school.
It serves about 200 families from 56 different churches on its 28-acre campus, according to the academy’s website.
The tragedy unfolded in the last few days before students were released for Christmas break.
