Abundant Life Christian School shooting: 2 killed by student

A student opened fire at a private Christian school in the US state of Wisconsin, wounding six people and killing a teacher and a teenage student.

Madison Police Chief Shawn Barnes identified the attacker Monday night as a 15-year-old female student at the school.

Authorities say the attacker was attending Abundant Life Christian School before he opened fire and was found dead at the scene. Six students were injured, including two who suffered life-threatening injuries.

A second-grader was the first to call in the active shooter report, according to Chief Barnes.

“Today is a sad day not only for Madison, but for our entire country,” President Barnes said. “We have to do better in our community.”

He added that the police had not determined the motive behind the shooting, and that the suspect’s family was cooperating with the investigation.

He added that it was not yet clear how the attacker obtained a firearm.

He named the alleged attacker as Natalie Rubino, also known as Samantha. It is believed that she died from her gunshot wounds.

The official cause of death will be announced by the Dane County Medical Examiner pending autopsy results.

Chief Barnes said that, to his current knowledge, police had no prior interactions with the alleged shooter.

Officers responded to a 911 call for a shooter at the Christian school around 11:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Monday. Chief Barnes said the attacker was attending school before the shooting.

The shooting was limited to a classroom containing students in mixed classes.

The school conducted an active shooter drill earlier this year and the information was “too new” for teachers to put into practice Monday, said Barbara Wears, the school’s director of public relations.

Although the school does not have a dedicated police officer, known as a school resource officer, the doors to all classrooms automatically lock and anyone who wants to enter the campus must enter through the main entrance, she said.

Wirz, who said she was teaching at the time of the attack, said the students handled themselves “brilliantly.”

“They were obviously afraid,” she said. “When they heard ‘lockdown, lockout’ and nothing else, they knew it was real.”

Police said they found the shooter dead when they arrived at the school with a gun. No officers fired weapons.

Police did not name any of the victims.

President Barnes said two students were in critical but stable condition in the hospital and facing life-threatening injuries. Four others were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and two of them have since been released.

The authorities have appealed for witnesses who saw or heard the attack to come forward to speak to police, and hope these accounts will shed light on the attacker’s motives.

“But this is not something we want to rush. We will not be questioning students,” President Barnes said. “We will give them the opportunity to come in and tell us what they saw when they are ready.”

He added, “Any child, every person in this building is a victim and will remain a victim forever.”

The officers responded to the school while undergoing training at a law enforcement training center located three miles away, the chief said.

“What started as a training day became an actual day,” he added.

The shooting also prompted a large response from emergency officials. Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbone said 15 ambulances were responding.

Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as other federal and local law enforcement officials, also responded.

Abundant Life Christian School has about 400 students from kindergarten through high school.

“Please pray for the Challenger family,” the school wrote in a Facebook post. The post quickly received hundreds of supportive comments from people across the United States.

The school remains closed while police continue their investigation.

“This has been a difficult day for our city,” Chief Barnes said.

“This will be a day etched in the collective minds and memories of all Madison residents.”

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said he is monitoring the situation closely and praying for everyone involved. He also ordered that flags on government buildings be flown at half-mast.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that the shooting was “shocking and unbelievable.”

“Students across our country should be learning how to read and write — not having to learn how to crouch and cover,” said Biden, who also called on Congress to act immediately on legislation that could prevent more gun violence.

Shootings are common in the United States, and schools are no exception.

The K-12 Violence Project, a nonprofit that works to reduce violence through accessible and actionable research, counted more than 300 shootings in 2024. This includes incidents in which a gun is brandished or a shot is fired, Or a bullet hits school property for any reason. Regardless of the number of victims.

According to the news organization EducationWeek, 38 school shootings resulted in deaths or injuries across the United States this year. There were a total of 69 casualties – including 16 deaths – before today’s shooting.

However, mass shootings by females are much less common. School shootings committed by female attackers are also less common.

In a blog post last year, K-12 School Shooting Database founder David Redman books The vast majority of school shooters are males in their teens or early twenties. However, at least four planned school shootings were by female attackers dating back to 1979.