A terrified little boy has revealed the horror that unfolded inside his Wisconsin school when a teenage student opened fire, killing a teacher and another student before turning the gun on herself.
Officers were called to an active shooting situation at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison just before 11 a.m. Monday morning after a second-grade teacher called 911, Madison Police Department Chief Shon Barnes said.
Police said the shooter, identified as 15-year-old student Natalie Rupnow, had opened fire on staff and students with a handgun, killing a teacher and a student.
Six other victims were wounded – including two students now fighting for their lives in critical condition – before the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Now, some of the students who survived the attack have spoken out about the terrifying ordeal, with one little boy simply asking: “Why?”
Adler Jean-Charles, a sixth-grader at the school, was in an English lesson when gunshots rang out. The class of 11- and 12-year-olds were chaperoned to the side of the school after being told they were undergoing a lockdown drill.
“We heard them. And some people started crying,” Jean-Charles said in an interview with CNN on Monday. “And then we just waited until the police came and they escorted us out to the church.”
He added: “I was scared and [thinking], ‘Why did they do that? Why?’”
After being given food and water, Jean-Charles said his class was taken to a local hospital to meet with their parents and guardians.
His mother Mireille Jean-Charles choked back tears as she explained the trauma inflicted on her son, his classmates and herself.
“Thank God they were safe,” she said. “But the trauma. It’s a lot, as I’m sure they lost friends and teachers, which is not OK. I don’t think they will be OK for a long time, and I’m not.”
Eight-year-old Nora Gottschalk told CNN she was about to have lunch when she saw a teacher had been shot in the attack.
“I was getting ready for lunch, it was basically lunchtime, and then I just heard shouting,” the little girl told News 3 Now while clutching a SpongeBob lollipop. “And then there was a teacher… and she was screaming, ‘Ah my leg, help, help!’”
Gottschalk added: “I was really scared, and I was really sad.”
Another second-grader, Noah, risked his life by crawling out from under a table where children were hiding to close the curtain to seemingly block the shooter’s view, the girl said.
“He risked his life to put the black curtain down,” Nora explained, adding that Noah was fine.
Police are now investigating the motive for the attack and quickly dispelled online rumors about the shooter’s gender identity.
“I dont think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she, or he, or they may have wanted to identify,” Barnes said.
“I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this. We have people who have yet another school shooting in Madison. That’s where my focus will be for the very near future.”
A candlelight vigil will take place in Madison Tuesday evening.
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.”
This article was amended after police clarified who made the initial 911 phone call.
