Wisconsin school shooting: three dead as girl, 15, kills teacher, student

Authorities have identified the girl who opened fire at a school in Wisconsin, killing two and injuring several others before being found dead.

The campus of Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin. Picture: Getty Images

A 15-year-old female student was identified by police as the assailant who opened fire Monday at a school in the US state of Wisconsin, where a fellow student and teacher were killed and the suspected shooter was found dead.

Shon Barnes, police chief in the state capital Madison, told a press briefing that three people had died and seven others were wounded at the Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school for children aged five to 18 with about 400 students.

“The shooter has now been identified as (a) 15-year-old,” Barnes told reporters. “She was a student at the school, and evidence suggests she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The New York Post has identified the girl as Natalie ‘Samantha’ Rupnow.

Two students were being treated for life-threatening injuries, while four others were in hospital in a non-critical condition.

Barnes said a second-grade student called emergency services to report the shooting shortly before 11am local time (4am Tuesday AEDT).

Police outside the school. Picture: Getty Images

A handgun was recovered at the scene, Barnes said, adding that the suspect’s family was co-operating with the police investigation.

“We are still working to determine a motive,” he said.

One witness interviewed by local media said they had heard two gunshots during the attack.

“We heard them and then some people started crying and then we just waited until the police came and then they escorted us out to the church,” said the child, who was not identified.

Monday’s violence is the latest in a long line of school shootings in the United States, where guns outnumber people and attempts to restrict access to firearms face perennial political deadlock.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes speaks to the media about the school shooting. Picture: Getty Images

Underlining the commonplace nature of mass shootings, the police chief said some medical personnel responding to Abundant Life came directly from training for such an event.

“I think we can all agree that enough is enough,” Barnes told reporters. “We have to come together to do everything we can to support our students, to prevent press conferences like these from happening again and again and again.”

US President Joe Biden condemned the shooting as “shocking and unconscionable” and said the tragedy underscored yet again the need for tighter gun laws.

“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,” he said in a statement.

“We need Congress to act. Now.”

Horror of US school shootings

Female US school shooters are exceedingly rare, but women and schoolgirls have been identified as assailants over the years.

“Most school shooters are male and in their teens or early 20s. However, over the last 50 years, at least four planned school shootings have involved female attackers,” David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, wrote last year.

Students are escorted from a church next to the Abundant Life Christian School and loaded on buses. Picture: Getty Images

The shooting happened in the final week of classes before students head to Christmas holidays, said Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations.

“This has obviously rocked our school community,” she told a media briefing, saying it was not yet decided if students would return before the year-end break.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a statement that “we are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information.”

This year, there have been at least 487 mass shootings — defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded — across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Bethany Highman, the parent of a student at Abundant Life Christian School, reports that her daughter is okay after the school shooting. Picture: Getty Images

At least 16,005 people have been killed in firearms violence in the United States this year, not including suicides, GVA reported Monday.

In September a 14-year-old boy killed four people, including two students, at a high school in the state of Georgia, before being taken into custody.

Nineteen students and two teachers were shot dead in May 2022 when an 18-year-old gunman stormed their Uvalde, Texas elementary school and opened fire.

AFP