A day after a student opened fire at a Madison Christian school, killing a teacher and another student, investigators work to determine a motive. NBC Chicago’s Bennett Haeberle reports.
CHICAGO – Tim Loomans said his fifth-grade son was right across the hall Monday when the gunfire erupted.
“As my son explained it, he heard gunshots they all did and immediately the teachers told everyone to get down. And locked the door and barricaded and got into a corner until police told them it was ok,” Loomans told NBC 5 Investigates Tuesday.
Loomans, whose two older sons graduated from the Abundant Life Christian School, said the school community has rallied around each in support after a deadly shooting at the small Madison, Wisconsin Christian school left three dead including a student, a teacher and the 15-year old suspected shooter – who authorities have identified as 15-year old Natalie Rupnow, who also went by the name “Samantha.”
During a news conference with reporters Tuesday afternoon in which he took no questions, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said the motive was “combination of factors” but did not offer many details. When pressed later by reporters, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said they would share “good, factual information” when they could and pushed back against questions about the others in the school who were injured - including two students who were said to be in critical condition.
"It is absolutely none of y'all's business who was harmed in this incident," she said.
During an interview with NBC 5 Investigates, Loomans was asked how he and his family are coping with the incident. Loomans said his son was “traumatized” having heard the series of gunshots from across the hall.
“You know, when asked that question I do compare myself with the other families. It’s a tragedy for everybody. And life will be different for everybody certainly for my son - a fifth grader who two of his classmates have lost loved ones – a mom and an older sister. That’s a different level of tragedy that what we are going to experience,” he said.
He later added that he thinks there will be some positive that emerges from the tragedy – that members of the school community will likely grow closer in wake of the incident. He did say that he believed the suspected shooter was relatively new to the school and not well known by other families.
“I’m sure that once this nightmare goes away great things will happen. My son was over here with one of his classmates a couple of minutes ago – and sorry – they’re going to become like one big family – brothers and sisters. Without a tragedy like this happening – you don’t really get that; but now it’s automatic these guys will be together like family like never before,” Loomans said.
NBC 5 Investigates looked at data from the K-12 school shooting database and found that female shooters are rare. The suspected shooter in this case is one of ten women or girls implicated in school-shootings this year alone -- out of more than 360 shootings at U.S. schools so far in 2024.
That’s less than three percent, according to an NBC 5 Investigates analysis of data shared with us from the K-12 school shooting database.
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