MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥� Wisconsin police did not plan any public updates Wednesday into the extremely rare religious school shooting that and wounded six others, a day after the city鈥檚 mayor chastised reporters and urged them to leave victims alone.
Police have been tight-lipped about why a 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian Christian School shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday, before shooting herself. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
Madison鈥檚 police chief released the name of the shooter, Natalie 鈥淪amantha鈥� Rupnow, hours after the shooting on Monday. But police have yet to release the names of the two people she killed.
A spokesperson for UW Health said she had no update on the three patients who were transferred to the hospital Monday. A spokesperson for the Dane County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office declined to release any information about the number of autopsies it was performing or the identity of the victims.
Tension over police not releasing additional information spilled over into a news conference on Tuesday, where Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes left without taking questions. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway grew increasingly terse in her responses as reporters asked questions she could not answer.
鈥淚t is absolutely none of y鈥檃lls business who was harmed in this incident,鈥� Rhodes-Conway said. 鈥漃lease, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured. Just have some human decency, folks. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal. Don鈥檛 feed off their pain. We鈥檒l share what we can when we can and not before that.鈥�
The media has unrealistic expectations about how quickly officials should release information in high-profile incidents, said Paul Bucher, the former Waukesha County district attorney who was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including prosecuting former Green Bay Packers star tight end Mark Chmura for sexual assault in 2000 and being part of the team that dealt with the aftermath of a mass shooting at a church gathering in Brookfield in 2005 that left seven people dead.
鈥淭he government is fed up with the media,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have no obligation to disclose anything to you at all. Based on the mayor鈥檚 statement, 鈥榯his is not y鈥檃ll鈥檚 business,鈥� that鈥檚 pretty indicative that they鈥檝e had it.鈥�
Bucher said that missteps in the release of information has caused stress for victims鈥� families and has made officials wary of saying anything before the investigation is complete. Officials initially said that five people had been killed and that a second-grade student made the initial 911 call when a second-grade teacher actually made the call.
But Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders, a longtime Madison journalist, said Wednesday that authorities should be more transparent with the facts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a problem that so little information has been released. I do not accept that this is necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he public has a right to know.鈥�
Lueders said a state constitutional amendment that protects the rights of crime victims, including their privacy, is likely contributing to the delayed release of the identities of the shooting victims. He said the law does not prohibit their release but encourages prior notification of family members.
Community members have been wrestling with grief since the shooting that came on the final week of classes before Christmas break.
Several hundred people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol for a vigil Tuesday night to honor those slain, with some passing candles to each other and standing close against the winter chill. It was one of several vigils held since the shooting.
The school shooting was among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in ; ; and .
But it stands out because school shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in the U.S., with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Emily Salisbury, an associate sociology professor at the University of Utah, studies criminology and gender. She said that females typically turn their anger on themselves because American culture has taught them that women don鈥檛 hurt people, resulting in eating disorders, self-harm and depression. It鈥檚 difficult to speculate without knowing all the facts in Rupnow鈥檚 case, Salisbury said, but a girl resorting to the level of violence she displayed at the school suggests she experienced severe trauma or suffered violence herself at home.
鈥淚t takes more provocation, more instigation for girls and women to become violent,鈥� Salisbury said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very high probability she experienced some sort of violence in her life that can lead to serious mental illness.鈥�
Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents. Divorce records indicate that Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don鈥檛 say why.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school 鈥� prekindergarten through high school 鈥� with approximately 420 students.
Salisbury said the public shouldn鈥檛 assume that the school鈥檚 religious teachings mean its students are above bullying and ostracizing each other.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e children,鈥� Salisbury said. 鈥淎s much as those (religious) values may be taught or discussed in the classroom in the culture of that school, kids are online all the time. Kids create their own culture through social media.鈥�
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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
Todd Richmond, Scott Bauer And Ryan J. Foley, The Associated Press
