Authorities have identified the shooter involved in the tragic incident at a Madison, Wisconsin school as 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow. Rupnow, a student at Abundant Life Christian School, opened fire in a study hall on Monday, killing a teacher and a student, and injuring six others, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.
The shooter, who went by the name, Samantha, had been at the school since the start of the day. After the shooting, she was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead while she was being transported to a local hospital. Barnes said that a second-grade student called 911 to report the shooting at the school.
Claims of Shooter Being Transgender
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This came as claims surfaced online that Rupnow was a transgender. The investigating police chief has not confirmed the gender identity of the 15-year-old, saying that it is “not important at all” to the investigation into the tragedy.
Despite a lack of evidence, claims that Rupnow was transgender have circulated online, a trend that has become common following school and mass shootings.
A post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by user “Todd with Trump” on December 16, hours after the shooter’s identity was revealed claimed, “Samantha Rupnow…born biologically female but identified as male, decides to take others out with her/him.”
“These school shootings have nothing to do with guns. NOTHING! They have EVERYTHING to do with complete and total mental illness. Someone knew this could happen.”
A similar post by @jackunheard, posted on Monday night, read: “BREAKING: The Wisconsin school sh**ter has been identified as a 17-year-old male who identifies as trans.”
The claims regarding Rupnow’s gender identity remain unsubstantiated.
Even police have addressed the rumors doing the round on social media. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes was asked during a press conference if Rupnow was a trans, to which he responded: “Yeah I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not and, quite frankly, I don’t think that’s even important. I don’t think that’s important at all.
“I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she, or he, or they may have wanted to identify, and I wish people would leave their own personal biases out of this.”
Shooter Had Mental Issues
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Meanwhile, a law enforcement source told CNN that Rupnow had been struggling with personal issues for some time and expressed some of those thoughts in her writings that authorities are now reviewing.
A manifesto, which police have not yet confirmed is connected to Rupnow, has gone viral on social media.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said that Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha, had been at the school since the start of the day. She later opened fire on a study hall filled with students from multiple grades.
Police confirmed that Rupnow had not been on their radar earlier, and there were no prior interactions with law enforcement. Barnes added that investigators are working to determine which grade she attended at the school, which has children from preschool through high school.
When officers arrived on the scene, Rupnow was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead while being transported to a nearby hospital.
Barnes also revealed that a second-grade student had placed the 911 call alerting authorities to the shooting.
It has not been confirmed whether Rupnow’s family, who are cooperating with the investigation, owned any firearms. Authorities are looking into anything she may have left behind.
Barnes said that investigators are currently in contact with the shooter’s father at one of their facilities, and he is cooperating.