Amok run at Christian school: 15-year-old under suspicion, child dialed 911!

By Luzia Geier

Madison/USA - A 15-year-old girl is suspected of being responsible for the deadly gun attack at a school in the US state of Wisconsin.

Security forces are deployed after a shooting attack outside a school in Madison, Wisconsin.
Security forces are deployed after a shooting attack outside a school in Madison, Wisconsin.  © Morry Gash/AP/dpa

According to police chief Shon F. Barnes, the teenager ultimately died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to the police, the two victims of the attack were a teacher and a male or female pupil.

Details on the gender of the two have not yet been released.

As the New York Post now reports, the teenager is Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow. She is said to have been a student at the school herself.

According to Barnes, six other students and one teacher were injured and taken to nearby hospitals. Two of the pupils were said to be in mortal danger. The father of the suspected shooter is currently being questioned. According to the police, the parents are cooperating fully with the investigators.

The crime took place late Monday morning (local time) at a Christian school in the city of Madison. Initially, the police had assumed that five people had been killed, but shortly afterwards they revised this figure downwards.

Child dialed the emergency number

At least three people have been killed in a gun attack at a school in the US state of Wisconsin, according to revised police reports.
At least three people have been killed in a gun attack at a school in the US state of Wisconsin, according to revised police reports.  © Morry Gash/AP/dpa

According to Barnes, the role of a second-grade child who called 911 at 10:57 a.m. (local time) was particularly harrowing.

"Let that sink in for a moment," the police chief said. "A second grader. Dialing 911. To report shots fired. At school."

According to media reports, around 390 students from kindergarten through twelfth grade attend the school.

US President Joe Biden called the act "shocking and unconscionable". He called on Congress to tighten gun laws. In the USA, deadly gun violence is part of everyday life.

Guns and larger caliber weapons are not only easily accessible, but also in circulation by the millions. Attacks with particularly serious consequences repeatedly spark debates about stricter gun laws.