Police Monday evening identified the student suspected of killing a teenage classmate and teacher and wounding six others at a Christian school in Madison earlier in the day.
Evidence suggests the suspected shooter, a 15-year-old student, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Monday evening.
She was found when police arrived at Abundant Life Christian School, 4901 E. Buckeye Rd., around 11 a.m., and died on the way to the hospital.
Of the six injured, two students remained in critical condition with life-threatening injuries Monday evening.
A teacher and three other students were initially hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Two had been released from the hospital around 5:30 p.m., he said.
Who was the suspected shooter at Abundant Life Christian School?
Barnes identified the suspected shooter as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha.
Barnes didn’t immediately know what grade she was in.
Was the suspected shooter at school at the start of the day?
Barnes said earlier Monday that police believed she had been at school earlier in the day and that investigators had no evidence of a break-in at the school building.
He said the shooting happened in a classroom during a study hall where students from different grades were sitting.
How common are female school shooters?
According to the data and experts who study such events, it is rare for school shooters to be female.
Of the 544 school shootings over an 11-year period, fewer than 5% of shooters were women, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for stricter gun laws. The group noted that the gender of the shooter is not always available, so the data is incomplete.
Justin Heinze, an associate professor of health behavior and health equity at the University of Michigan, cautioned against drawing conclusions from such data.
“I will say to anyone who asks me that there is not necessarily a profile,” Heinze said. “I can’t give you individual characteristics, or certain behavior patterns, or certain life experiences, that will tell you with any real accuracy who might end up there. perpetrating an event like this.”
“I think we have to be careful when we have these kinds of conversations because you can mix up pieces of information,” he added.
What else are Madison police investigating after the school shooting?
Barnes said police have not yet verified some information circulating online, including an alleged manifesto from the shooter. Madison police have shared that document with the FBI and are investigating some of the things contained in that document, he said.
He warned social media users to be careful what they share online.
Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What we know about the suspect in the Madison school shooting
