Star Wars actor Mark Hammil has shared a heartbroken and an evergreen headline after the United States was rocked by another school shooting, which has left three people dead.
A 15-year-old girl, who police identified as Natalie Rupnow, killed a teacher and fellow student after opening fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Rupnow was also pronounced dead at the scene, Department Chief Shon Barnes said.
Six others have been left injured, including two left in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. At the time of writing, Rupnow’s motives remain unclear.
The attack on the Abundant Life Christian School is the 83rd school shooting in the United States in 2024 alone.
After mass shootings, the satirical newspaper The Onion often uses the headline: “‘No way to prevent this,’ says only nation where this regularly happens.”
The Onion has been publishing the headline since 2014, recirculating it 38 times since its original publication.
On Bluesky, Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, shared the Onion’s story, adding a heartbreak emoji to his post.
Speaking to Vice in 2017, The Onion editor Marnie Shure commented on the headline, explaining: “We wrote it for one particular attack, and subsequently it has run for many others with just the date changed.”
She added: “By re-running the same commentary it strengthens the original commentary tenfold each time. I’m proud to work alongside the people who saw the potential in that, and who were able to send out that message and make it resonate. In the wake of these really terrible things, we have this comment that really holds up.”
The Onion recently succeeded in their bid to purchase Alex Jones’s Infowars website at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
Jones owes the Sandy Hook victim’s families more than $1bn in defamation judgments after he spread conspiracy theories about the shooting in 2012, which claimed 28 lives.
In Wisconsin, a second-grade teacher dialled 911 to report the shooting, police said Monday. Authorities found a handgun at the scene. Rupnow’s family is cooperating with police, the chief said.
President Joe Biden, who was briefed on the school shooting on Monday, said: “It’s shocking and unconscionable. We need Congress to act. Now... Jill and I are praying for all the victims today, including the teacher and teenage student who were killed and those who sustained injuries.”
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Tuesday evening as Madison reels from the attack.
This article was amended after police clarified who made the initial 911 phone call.
