Officials are trying to figure out why a 15-year-old girl allegedly opened fire at the Christian school she attended, killing a fellow student and teacher in a heinous crime that shocked the community of Madison, Wisconsin.
The suspect, Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before officers reached Abundant Life Christian School on Monday morning, police said. Officers did not fire their weapons.
Two students were hospitalized in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said, while another three students and a teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police lead students after a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, Dec. 16, 2024, in Madison, Wis.
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Police have not yet suggested any motive for the attack nor said whether they believe the victims were specifically targeted.
The suspect’s parents are cooperating with the investigation, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told ABC News on Tuesday.
Emergency vehicles are parked outside of the SSM Health clinic where parents are being reunified with children after a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., Dec. 16, 2024.
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“They were cooperative. Despite this tragedy, they still lost a child. They still lost a member of their family,” Barnes said. “It is certain that they have probably more questions than anyone because they knew her. They lived with her and so we wanted to get an account from them of what kind of child she was.”
Her father is being questioned by investigators, Barnes said. He said he didn’t know whether the mother had been questioned, noting that she’s been out of town.
A police officer stands guard in front of the Abundant Life Christian School on Dec. 16, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Students in Kindergarten through 12th Grade attend the Christian school. Police said the shooting was contained to “a classroom in a study hall full of students from multiple grade levels.”
“I was in the hallway, and I was changing from my shoes to my boots to go to lunch because I have recess after, but then I heard the shooting and screams,” a girl in second-grade told ABC Chicago station WLS.
A second-grader also made the 911 call, Barnes said.
“Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes added. “A second-grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a shooting at school.”
A family leave a shelter after a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 16, 2024.
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President Joe Biden called the shooting “shocking and unconscionable” and called on Congress to act immediately.
Biden urged Congress to pass “commonsense” gun safety laws, including universal background checks, a national red flag law, and a ban on both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Police direct traffic outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, after a shooting there on Dec. 16, 2024.
Morry Gash/AP
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence,” Biden said in a statement, adding, “We cannot continue to accept it as normal.”
Biden also mentioned his administration’s efforts to combat the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., including the implementation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, while stating that more needed to be done.
Worshipers at Blackhawk Church gather to pray for victims and survivors of a shooting at Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School, Dec. 16, 2024, in Middleton, Wis.
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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement, “There are no words to describe the devastation and heartbreak we feel,” calling the shooting a “gut-wrenching tragedy.”
Evers said he and his wife are “praying for the families and loved ones of those whose lives were so senselessly taken and for the educators, staff, and the entire Abundant Life school community.”
“It is unthinkable that a kid or an educator might wake up and go to school one morning and never come home,” he said. “This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a foregone reality or stop working to change it.”
ABC News’ Briana Stewart contributed to this report.