The shooter at a non secular college in Wisconsin had two handguns along with her however used just one in the attack that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others, the town’s police chief informed The Related Press on Wednesday.
Police had been nonetheless investigating why the 15-year-old pupil at Plentiful Life Christian Christian Faculty in Madison shot and killed a fellow pupil and instructor on Monday, earlier than taking pictures herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes mentioned.
Two different college students who had been shot remained in vital situation on Wednesday.
“We could by no means know what she was considering that day, however we we’ll do our greatest to attempt to add or give as a lot data to our public as doable,” Barnes mentioned.
The coed who was killed was recognized in an obituary launched Wednesday as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison. She was a freshman and “an avid reader, beloved artwork, singing and enjoying keyboard within the household worship band,” in line with the obituary.
The title of the slain instructor has not been launched.
Barnes launched the title of the shooter, Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, hours after the taking pictures on Monday.
Barnes mentioned the medical expert would launch the names of these killed, however state legislation prohibits releasing the names of the injured.
Police, with the help of the FBI, had been scouring on-line information and different sources and talking with the assailant’s mother and father and classmates in an try to find out a motive, Barnes mentioned.
Police do not know if anybody was focused or if the assault had been deliberate upfront, he mentioned.
Whereas Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes mentioned he doesn’t know the way she obtained them and he declined to say who bought them, citing the continuing investigation.
No selections have been made about whether or not Rupnow’s mother and father is perhaps charged in relation to the taking pictures, however they’ve been co-operating, Barnes mentioned.
On-line courtroom information present no prison instances towards her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mom, Mellissa Rupnow. They’re divorced and shared custody of their daughter, however she primarily lived along with her father, in line with courtroom paperwork. Divorce information point out that Natalie was in remedy in 2022, however do not say why.
Feminine shooters uncommon
The taking pictures was the most recent amongst dozens throughout the U.S. lately, together with particularly lethal ones in Newtown, Conn.; Parkland, Fla.; and Uvalde, Texas.
However the Madison assault is an outlier as solely about three per cent of all U.S. mass shootings are perpetrated by females, research present.
Faculty shootings have change into a near-daily prevalence in the US, with 322 of them this yr, in line with the Okay-12 Faculty Taking pictures Database. That’s the second highest complete of any yr since 1966 — topped solely by final yr’s 349.
Faculty shootings by teenage females have been extraordinarily uncommon within the U.S., with males of their teenagers and 20s finishing up most of them, mentioned David Riedman, founding father of the Okay-12 Faculty Taking pictures Database.
Emily Salisbury, an affiliate professor of social work on the College of Utah, research criminology and gender. She mentioned that females sometimes flip their anger on themselves as a result of American tradition has taught them that girls do not harm individuals, leading to consuming issues, self-harm and despair.
It is tough to take a position with out understanding all of the details in Rupnow’s case, Salisbury mentioned, however a lady resorting to the extent of violence she displayed suggests she skilled extreme trauma or suffered violence herself.
“It takes extra provocation, extra instigation for women and girls to change into violent,” Salisbury mentioned. “It is a very excessive likelihood she skilled some kind of violence in her life that may result in critical psychological sickness.”
Plentiful Life is a nondenominational Christian college — prekindergarten by means of highschool — with roughly 420 college students.
Salisbury mentioned the general public should not assume that the varsity’s non secular teachings imply its college students are above bullying and ostracizing one another.
“They’re kids,” Salisbury mentioned. “As a lot as these [religious] values could also be taught or mentioned within the classroom within the tradition of that college, children are on-line on a regular basis. Children create their very own tradition by means of social media.”
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