Police were alerted Monday to a mass shooting at a private school in Wisconsin because a second-grader called 911 while it was in progress, authorities said.
A teacher and a teenage student died after authorities say a 15-year-old student opened fire with a handgun at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 16. The suspected gunman died on the way to the hospital from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a Dec. 16 news conference that his department became aware of the shooting when a young student at the school called for help.
“At 10:57 a.m., a second-grade student called 911 to report that a shooting had occurred at school,” a solemn Barnes said as he looked around the room. ‘Let that sink in for a moment. A second grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a shooting at school.”
The small school has fewer than 400 students in total, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Authorities arrived just minutes after receiving the call, and officers alerted people that the gunman had been shot and the gun had been recovered at 11:05 a.m., Barnes said.
Six others were injured, including two students who Barnes said are in critical condition. Police have not released the names of the dead or injured.
“This was a sad day,” Barnes said. “This will be a day that will be etched in the collective minds and memories of everyone from Madison.”
The shooting took place in a classroom that was a study hall for students from different grades, Barnes said.
“When your children go to school, things are not going well for them. If they are in church, it is not okay. If they’re outside, it’s not okay. Where will they be safe?” parent Mireille Jean-Charles told a group of reporters outside the school on December 16.
Police identified the suspected shooter as Abundant Life Christian School student Natalie Rupnow, 15, who went by Samantha. Investigators are scouring the suspect’s social media and searching her home on December 16 to determine a motive.
Authorities have questioned the suspected gunman’s father for hours and are investigating how she obtained a firearm. Barnes said the alleged shooter’s parents have “fully cooperated” with the investigation.
The shooting occurred less than two weeks after a pair of kindergarteners were shot at a Seventh-day Adventist school in Northern California.
The Wisconsin shooting also came two days after the anniversaries of 20 first-graders and six teachers who were killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The shooting survivors graduated from high school in June.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
