The face behind the shooting incident that happened at a private school in the US city of Madison has been identified.
The shooting spree lead to the death of a teacher and a student on Monday.
A 15-year-old girl, identified by police as Natalie Rupnow, opened fire on a Madison, Wisconsin, K–12 school, killing a teacher and a classmate.
Just before 11 a.m. on Monday, police arrived to Abundant Life Christian School in response to allegations of an active shooter and entered the building right away.
When authorities arrived at the scene of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound, Rupnow, also known as “Samantha,” was declared dead, according to Madison authorities Department Chief Shon Barnes.
Six more people have been hurt, including two who are critically ill and may not survive. Her motivation is still unknown..
At a news conference on Monday, the city police chief revealed that the alleged shooter was a female student at the school, age 15.
Rupnow had attended the school along with some 390 students in grades Kindergarten through 12, police said.
“I don’t know whether [the shooter] was transgender or not,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference on Monday night, when asked about Rupnow’s gender identity.
According to Barnes, the gunpersn died from what is thought to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was declared dead by the time authorities got on the scene.
A second-grade student reported the gunshot to 911 at approximately 11 a.m., the police chief continued, saying, “Let that soak in for a minute.”
Authorities were still trying to figure out why the shooting occurred.
At first, the police chief refused to identify the suspected shooter.
During the first press conference, Barnes did not disclose the name or gender of the accused gunman.
But US media outlets, like the Associated Press agency and the New York Times were claiming that the shooter was female.
The police chief insisted that all of the surviving children had been reunited with their families and that the family of the alleged gunman was assisting authorities.