At least 2 dead after student, 15, opens fire in Wisconsin school before turning gun on herself

A 15-year-old student shot a fellow student and a teacher dead in a Wisconsin school classroom on Dec. 16, 2024 before turning the gun on herself, local police said.

At least six others were injured, with two of those students in critical condition, U.S. media reported.

Opened fire in a classroom

The deadly shooting took place just before 11am at Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin as classes were taking place, Madison police chief Shon Barnes said.

The shooter was identified by authorities as Natalie Rupnow, 15, who went by the name “Samantha", CNN reported.

She opened fire inside "a classroom in a study hall of students from mixed grades", Barnes said.

Barbara Wiers, the school's director of elementary and school relations, said that students were locked in their classrooms during the shooting, Reuters reported.

Wiers said that the school has practices for what to do in the event of a shooting, and students are normally told it is just a drill, except for Monday's incident.

"They were clearly scared ... when they heard 'lockdown, lockdown' and nothing else they knew it was real," Wiers said.

Second grader called 911 to report shooting

Barnes said that a second grader (around seven to eight years old) at Abundant Life Christian School called 911 to report the shooting at 10:57am on Dec. 16, according to CNN.

Police arrived on the scene at around 11am.

At 11:05am, officers said a shooter was down and a gun had been recovered.

Police said the shooter was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived and died en route to a hospital, AP reported.

A teacher and a student had been killed.

Two students sustained life-threatening injuries and are in critical condition.

Another teacher and three students were taken to hospital with less serious injuries.

Police declined to provide more details about the shooter.

A unverified document, which is supposedly her manifesto, is supposedly circulating online on social media.

Shocking and unconscionable: Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden called the shooting "shocking and unconscionable" in a White House press statement on Dec. 16.

"Every child deserves to feel safe in their class room. Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover," Biden wrote.

Biden also called on Congress to act immediately on stricter gun safety laws.

According to news site EducationWeek, 38 school shootings have resulted in deaths or injuries across the U.S. this year.

Prior to this shooting, there were a total of 69 victims, including 16 deaths.

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