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Associated Press

The motive for a shooting that killed a teacher and a student and wounded others at a Wisconsin school appears to be a “combination of factors”, a police chief said on Tuesday as he appealed to the public to share what they might know about the 15-year-old girl who attacked a study hall before shooting herself.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes offered no details about a possible motive, though he said bullying at Abundant Life Christian School would be investigated.
Barnes said police have not confirmed the authenticity of a “manifesto” that might have been written by Natalie Rupnow and could shed light on her actions.
“Identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive is a combination of factors,” the chief told reporters.
Barnes gave the number to a tip line for anyone who might have known the shooter and her feelings.
“There are always signs of a school shooting before it occurred. We’re looking into her online activity,” he said.

Besides the deaths, six people were wounded, including two students who remain in critical condition. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Barnes made remarks at a news conference but left without taking questions from reporters, leaving the Madison mayor and Dane County executive to face the media. They declined to disclose the names of the victims.
“Leave them alone,” Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway snapped.
Abundant Life is a non-denominational Christian school – taking children aged four to 18 – with around 420 students in Madison, the state capital.
Mackenzie Truitt, 24, placed a red poinsettia plant at the school to honour the victims Tuesday. She said her brother is a graduate and some of his friends were wounded.
“My heart sunk because I know how awesome a lot of these kids are,” Truitt said. “I know how scared everybody was. Couldn’t get a hold of certain people. Just really scary having to deal with that.”
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 on Monday, the last 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 cameras and other security measures.

Barnes said police were talking with the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter’s home.
The shooter’s parents, who are divorced, jointly shared custody of their child, but the shooter primarily lived with her 42-year-old father, according to court documents.
Barnes said the first emergency call to report an active shooter came in shortly before 11am from a second-grade teacher – not a second-grade student as he reported publicly on Monday.
First responders who were in training just 5km (three miles) 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 said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about 1.6km from the school. Parents pressed children against their chests while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side.
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, US 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 traumatises children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said it was “unthinkable” that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.
The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the US 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 non-profit organisation that researches healthcare issues.
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, you can dial 18111 for the government-run Mental Health Support Hotline. You can also call +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.


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Gun violence in the US

Motive for Wisconsin school shooting was a ‘combination of factors’, police chief says

Worshipers at Blackhawk Church gather to pray for victims and survivors of a shooting at Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes speaks at a news conference on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Crime scene tape blocks off the area around the home of 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow in Madison on Tuesday. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

A group makes their way to leave flowers outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Teen girl shoots dead a fellow student and teacher at Wisconsin school

Students aboard a bus as they leave a shelter following the shooting. Photo: AP

The campus of Abundant Life Christian School. Photo: AFP

Children prepare to board a bus to meet their parents following the shooting. Photo: Reuters

Police officers at the scene. Photo: EPA-EFE

CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione had manifesto railing against US healthcare system

Luigi Mangione arrives for an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, Photo: Reuters

Luigi Mangione in a booking photograph. Photo: Altoona Police Department via Reuters

An image from surveillance video of the shooting. Photo: NYPD via Reuters

Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Photo: Business Wire via TNS

Luigi Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona on Monday. Photos: Pennsylvania State Police via AP

Georgia arrests father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect

A student embraces her classmate near a makeshift memorial at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 5. Photo: Getty Images via AFP


Colt Gray was charged with four counts of felony murder. Photo: Barrow County Sheriff’s Office via AP

News

World

United States & Canada

Society & Culture

The authenticity of a ‘manifesto’ said to be written by Natalie Rupnow, 15, who killed a teacher and fellow student, has not been confirmed


The authenticity of a ‘manifesto’ said to be written by Natalie Rupnow, 15, who killed a teacher and fellow student, has not been confirmed.


Crime

Joe Biden

United States