Madison school shooting: Suspect identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow

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(NewsNation) — A 15-year-old student opened fire in a Madison, Wisconsin, Christian school classroom Monday, killing two people and injuring six others before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Authorities identified the shooter as Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha. Rupnow was pronounced dead in transport to a hospital, while one teacher and one teenager were declared dead at the scene.

Two students remain in critical condition, and several others were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.

The shooting occurred in a mixed-grade study hall classroom at Abundant Life Christian School. Police said a second-grader called 911 at 10:57 a.m., and officers arrived within minutes.

Detectives have spoken with Rupnow’s family and searched their home. A document about the shooting circulating on social media has not been verified, authorities said.

“The person who posted [the document] is alleged to have a connection with the victim. We have not located him yet,” Barnes said.

The school remains closed and under police monitoring.

When officers responded, they found multiple people dead, including a juvenile they believed was the shooter.

Authorities are still working to determine a motive and investigating whether there were warning signs.

Barnes identified the weapon police found as a handgun. He said the gunfire was confined to one space.

“We believe that the shooter was at school at the beginning of the day. We don’t believe there was a breach,” Barnes said.

Parents have been reunited with students, though staff and teachers are still being reunited with their families.

Barnes said police are speaking with Rupnow’s father to determine how much he might have known about the incident.

“He lost someone, as well. And so we’re not going to rush the information, we’ll take our time and certainly do our due diligence,” Barnes said.

Barnes said police currently have “no reason to believe” that Rupnow’s parents have committed a crime.

Police said the next news conference about the shooting would be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday CT.

Barbara Wiers, a school representative, expressed gratitude to the president and governor for their support. The school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras, she said.

Wiers said students and teachers won’t likely return to the classroom anytime soon because the school “is a crime scene.”

“Whether we will return to classes this week — because this was our last week, we were done on Friday — is still to be determined,” she said.

She said when the school practices safety routines, leaders always announce that it is a drill. That didn’t happen Monday.

Wiers said just before the school year, they had done a retraining with the Madison Police Department, so it was “very fresh for faculty.”

Both the shooter and the student who was killed were teenagers. Due to the way the private school was structured, police said there were no injuries outside that age group.

Barnes said the police training center is three miles from the school, and staff responded from there.

“What began as a training day became an actual day,” he said.

The private nondenominational K-12 school has roughly 420 students on a 28-acre campus with close to 60 staff members.

The official cause and manner of death for the shooter have not been released, and it is not known if they had prior contact with law enforcement.

Police are collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses. Police say the shooter’s family is cooperating, and the force is working hard to find answers.

“I’m feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas,” Barnes said. “Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. … We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened.”

Barnes said detectives were “working hard to find as many answers as we can.”

“These children are now the latest group of survivors of a school shooting,” Barnes said. “This time, unfortunately, in Madison, Wisconsin.”

In a statement, President Joe Biden said, “We need Congress to act. Now. 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. We cannot continue to accept it as normal. Every child deserves to feel safe in their classroom. Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover.”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said it’s “unthinkable” that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.