Police chief says it is irrelevant if Wisconsin faculty shooter Natalie Rupnow was transgender

The investigating police chief has not confirmed the gender identity of the 15-year-old who opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, claiming it is ‘not important at all’ to the investigation into the massacre.

The shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, killed a teacher and another teenager when she opened fire on students and staff at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday, before turning the pistol on herself. 

Speculation over whether Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha, is transgender has flooded social media since the shooter’s identity was publicly confirmed.

But Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes has dismissed questions about the female student’s gender identity and urged people to be more responsible with their online posts about the shooting.

‘I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not. And quite frankly, I don’t think that’s important at all,’ he said during a news conference, CNN reported.  

Barnes urged people to leave out their ‘personal biases’ and further declined to address information posted online that is ‘incorrect’ or ‘just not helping’ the situation.  

‘I don’t think whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may want to identify,’ he added. 

‘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 [what gender the shooter was].’ 

Rupnow, 15, terrified classmates, including a second grader who made the 911 call that sent dozens of police officers rushing to the small school, when she opened fire on the study hall.

She killed a teacher and another teen, and wounded six others, including two students who were in critical condition, Barnes said. 

A teacher and three students had been taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them had been released by Monday evening.

‘Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. … We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened,’ Barnes said.

Rupnow was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived to the school and died en route to a hospital, the chief confirmed. Barnes declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school – prekindergarten through high school – with approximately 420 students in Madison, the state capital.

Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said when they practice safety routines, leaders always announce that it’s a drill. That didn’t happen Monday, just a week before Christmas break.

‘When they heard, ‘Lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,’ she said.

Wiers said the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, nor was it clear if the victims were targeted, Barnes said.

‘I don’t know why, and I feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,’ he told reporters.

Barnes said police were talking with the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter’s home.

‘He lost someone as well,’ Barnes said of the shooter’s father. ‘And so we’re not going to rush the information. We’ll take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.’

The first 911 call to report an active shooter came in shortly before 11am. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the initial call.

Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told AP. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Police blocked off roads around the school, and federal agents were at the scene to assist local law enforcement. No shots were fired by police.

Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the school. Parents pressed children against their chests while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post. Wiers said they’re still deciding whether they will resume classes this week.

Bethany Highman, the mother of a student, rushed to the school and learned over FaceTime that her daughter was OK.

‘As soon as it happened, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,’ Highman said. ‘There’s nobody around you. You just bolt for the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your kids.’

In a statement, President Joe Biden cited the tragedy in calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and certain gun restrictions.

‘We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,’ Biden said. He spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and offered his support.

Evers said it’s ‘unthinkable’ that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.

The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.

The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.

Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.

Rhodes-Conway said the country needs to do more to prevent gun violence.

‘I hoped that this day would never come to Madison,’ she said.