Madison police identify suspect in school shooting as 15-year-old female student

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes on Monday night revealed that the suspected mass shooter at a private Christian school earlier in the day was a 15-year-old student, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on the way to a local hospital.

The suspected shooter was identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name of Samantha, according to the Associated Press. Rupnow allegedly killed two other people, a teacher and a student, and injured seven others, including two students who are in critical condition. 

The shooting occurred at the Abundant Life Christian School at just before 11 a.m. local time. Barnes said the 911 call that notified local police of the shooting was placed by a 2nd grader.

“Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes said at the news conference. “A second grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m to report a shooting at school.”

Investigators are still looking for a motive, but the shooting was confined to one study hall classroom of mixed grades. Police said that Rupnow's father is cooperating with the investigation, and there are currently no plans to charge either the parents with a crime. The attack appeared to be planned ahead of time, but officials are also not aware of any interactions with Rupnow prior to the shooting.

Barnes said police cannot confirm the authenticity of a manifesto that was published online, but Madison police has contacted the FBI for help finding the person who posted the document, who claimed to have a connection with the alleged shooter.

Police has not revealed much about the weapon that the alleged shooter used, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is helping police find out how the shooter acquired a handgun, per CNN.

The police chief also declined to comment on speculation over whether the suspect was transgender, claiming that it did not matter.

“I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not. And quite frankly, I don’t think that’s important at all,” he said. “I don’t think whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may want to identify ... For what we’re doing right now, today, literally eight hours after a mass shooting in a school in Madison, it is of no consequence at this time."

Madison police said it expects to have another news briefing with further updates on the shooting at 1 p.m. Central time on Tuesday.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.