Here's what we know about the deadly school shooting in Wisconsin

By Ayana Archie,

Jason Breslow, Alana Wise

Published December 17, 2024 at 5:03 AM EST

A police officer stands guard in front of Abundant Life Christian School on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin.

Updated December 17, 2024 at 16:17 PM ET

A teacher and a teenage student were killed in a school shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., in an attack Monday that also injured six more people.

Authorities in Madison said that two students are in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while three other students and a teacher sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Two of those students have since been released from area hospitals.

The shooting, just days before Christmas break, has left the Madison community in shock and searching for answers. In a statement, Gov. Tony Evers said he was praying for the families and loved ones whose lives were "so senselessly taken" and called the shooting a "gut-wrenching tragedy."

"As a father, a grandfather, and as governor, it is unthinkable that a kid or an educator might wake up and go to school one morning and never come home. This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a foregone reality or stop working to change it," he said in the statement.

For now, there are more questions than answers about what led to Monday's events. Here is what we know so far.

When did it happen, and how did police respond?

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters that at 10:57 a.m. local time, a second-grade teacher at the private school called 911 to report that a shooting was underway.

Police initially said the call came in from a second-grade student. That error, police said, was due to a mix-up in interpreting the 911 call log.

Police were on the scene in three minutes, Barnes said. Some officers, he noted, were in active-shooter training that very morning just a few miles away.

What is known about the victims?

Police believe the shooting took place inside a study hall with students gathered from multiple grades. But aside from the number of victims, authorities have yet to release the names, ages or other identifying details about those who were killed or injured.

Who is the suspect?

Police identified Natalie Rupnow, 15, as the alleged shooter. Rupnow, who went by Samantha, was a student at the school. Authorities said she apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police say they are still working to determine a motive, including whether Rupnow had been bullied prior to the shooting. A handgun was recovered at the scene, and authorities said they were working with federal officials to trace the origin of the gun. As of Monday, it remained unclear how the shooter acquired the weapon.

While a document attributed to Rupnow has been circulated online, Chief Barnes said that officials are working to understand its origins and whether it actually came from the alleged shooter.

Barnes said the department has spoken with Rupnow's family and searched her home. He said Rupnow did not have any previous brushes with the law that he was aware of.

There are "always signs of a school shooting" before it occurs, Barnes said, and he asked for the public to come forward to help paint a fuller picture of what led to the bloodshed.

He said authorities are combing the shooter's social media and that identifying a motive is the department's "top priority."

Officials pointedly urged Madison residents and the greater community to make mental health care a priority and seek out help and support at the first signs they might be suffering.

Female suspects are rare in school shootings. Since the 1999 killings at Columbine High School in Colorado, only eight other shooting suspects — or 4% — have been female, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

What has been the response?

The Madison community was in mourning on Monday night. One mother, Mireille Jean-Charles, has three sons who attend Abundant Life: a ninth-grader and a set of twins in sixth grade. Jean-Charles told Wisconsin Public Radio she was relieved that her children were safe, but she expects them to have emotional trauma for a long time.

"This is not OK. If your kids are at school, they are not OK. If they are at church, they are not OK. If they are outside elsewhere, they are not OK. Where, where are they going to be safe?"

Barbara Wiers, Abundant Life's elementary and school relations director, said that the school does not have any firearms on campus and that students are not even allowed to shoot fake finger guns on the playground.

The school has cameras, and students are "visually scanned" as they enter the building, Wiers said. The school does not have metal detectors or a school resource officer, she said.

A community vigil was held outside Madison on Monday night for the victims and survivors of the shooting.

Across the state, flags were ordered to half-staff by the governor. And in a statement from the White House, President Biden called the shooting "shocking and unconscionable."

"From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that don't receive attention – it is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence," Biden said. "We cannot continue to accept it as normal. 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."

What do we know about the school?

Abundant Life Christian School is a private academy that serves about 420 students from kindergarten to high school.

The school was set to close this week for Christmas vacation, sending students off with an Ugly Christmas Sweater Spirit Day on Friday. It appears unlikely that students will be able to come back to school to finish the rest of the week.