Officials investigating Monday’s fatal shooting at a school in Wisconsin had little new information to share a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes clarified a piece of information on Monday, mentioning that the initial 911 call reporting the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School was made by a second-grade teacher and not a second-grade student.
During the tragic incident at the school’s study hall on Monday morning, a teacher and a student lost their lives, while six others, including one teacher and five students, sustained injuries. Among the injured, two students remained in critical condition, with no reported change in their status according to Barnes.
The perpetrator, a 15-year-old student identified as Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, succumbed to what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooter’s age was initially reported as 15, then 17, before reverting back to 15 later on Monday.
Barnes said that investigators continue to probe for a motive in the shooting, including searching electronic devices or any other writings from the teen shooter. He said the motive appeared to stem from a “combination of factors.”
A supposed “manifesto” circulating online has not been confirmed as authentic, he said. He also said that investigators are looking at rumors that bullying may have played a role in Rupnow’s decision to open fire, and he asked that anyone with information about her state of mind contact CrimeStoppers.
Officials have not named any of the victims in the shooting, and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway took issue on Tuesday with reporters who complained about having to wait for that information.
These are folks that are deeply impacted by trauma and a grieving,” she said when first asked for identifications, noting that the decision would come from law enforcement.
But as reporters pushed, Rhodes-Conway grew visibly upset.
“It is absolutely none of y’all’s business who was harmed in this incident,” she said. “Please have some human decency. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal. Don’t feed off their pain.”
County Executive Melissa Agard, a former state legislator, also spoke at the news conference and provided a personal touch.
“I do have a sonm and it was hard for him to go to school this morning,” she said, “and then his school was locked down” by one of several false threats called into Madison schools Tuesday morning.
