Natalie Rupnow joined shooting range before school attack – Wisconsin latest updates

A seventh-grader from Abundant Life Christian School described the slain teacher as a “kind and caring” person.

Angel Brube, who was inside the Madison, Wisconsin, school at the time of the shooting, reflecting on Monday’s horror attack.

“It was very unexpected and also very scary,” Brube told CNN. “We were just chilling in class and it just came.”

The schoolchild said he knew one of the two victims, a teacher, who died in the shooting.

“The teacher, yes I did know her. And she was a really good person,” Brube said. He added that he had been taught by her “many times before”.

“She was always very kind and caring and she was always very friendly and communicative,” he added.

When Natalie Rupnow began pulling the trigger of her handgun, Brube said the first gunshots he heard sounded like really loud footsteps or banging.

He said police came into the school carrying “long rifles”.

A student and a teacher were killed during the deadly shooting that occurred at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin.

Police held a follow-up press conference on Tuesday afternoon, but are still yet to officially name the two.

The shooter – previously identified by police as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow – also died during the incident from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Mike Bedigan has outline what we do know about the victims so far:

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has shared a heartbroken and evergreen headline after the United States was rocked by another school shooting, which has left three people dead.

A 15-year-old girl, who police identified as Natalie Rupnow, killed a teacher and fellow student after opening fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Rupnow was also pronounced dead at the scene, Department Chief Shon Barnes said.

Six others have been left injured, including two left in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. At the time of writing, Rupnow’s motives remain unclear.

Greg Evans has the details.

The father of school shooter Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, who killed two people and wounded six others at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, encouraged the 15-year-old to practice her weapons-handling skills in the months leading up to Monday’s bloodshed, according to a review of his online activity.

In August, Jeff Rupnow – who was unable to be reached on Tuesday – posted a photograph on Facebook of what appears to be his shotgun-wielding daughter shooting clay pigeons at a local gun club.

“Is that kiddo?” a friend commented.

“Sure is!!!!” Rupnow replied. “We joined NBSC this spring and we have been loving all [sic] every second of it!”

Justin Rohrlich has the story.

Neighbors told The Independent’s Justin Rohrlich of their sadness after learning the teenage shooter’s identity.

Suzy De Wilde said she and her husband moved in about four years ago and that she regularly saw Natalie Rupnow hanging out in the park next to their property.

“Every day, I wash my dishes and I see that house,” she said. “It’s f*****g crazy that that’s where the shooter lived… Every day, I get to look at that front door now. How do you live with these reminders everywhere?”

For more details, read the full report below.

As they reel from Monday’s shooting, parents whose children are enrolled at the Abundant Life Christian School have praised it for fostering a “tightknit” environment.

“We’re all a family, and we all know each other, whether they’re in the same grade or not,” Karl Gottschalk, who has three children enrolled at the school, told the New York Times. “It’s never been a concern that something like this would happen since this is such a small, religious school.”

“It’s a very tightknit community with not only excellent academics, but our love for Jesus and trust in God is the foundation,” Hannah Lease, whose two sons attend the school, told the outlet. “That’s what keeps us going during this time.”

Nick Cardarella, whose wife works at the school, added: “It’s come as you are. There is that religious element, but they’re not pushy in any kind of way.”

“It’s starting to be a big school, but we feel very connected,” Michelet Jean-Charles, who moved to Wisconsin from Haiti, said. “We feel that we can trust everyone at the school — the kids, their parents. We give hugs, we shake hands.”

The 15-year-old, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Monday morning, is one of the few female perpetrators of school shootings in recent decades after a teacher and student were gunned down in the attack on the Madison school.

Data from advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety finds that women constitute less than five percent of assailants across 544 school shooting incidents over the past 11 years.

Josh Marcus and James Liddell report.