MADISON, Wis. — A school shooting at a small, private Christian school has rattled the wider Madison community. 

On Monday, Dec. 16, a 15-year-old female student, later identified as Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow, killed another teenage student and a teacher, according to police. The shooter is also deceased. Another six people were taken to the hospital with injuries ranging from “minor” to “life-threatening,” police said.

Abundant Life Christian School sits just a couple of blocks from Barbara Thomas’ house.

She said she was heartbroken when she learned there had been a shooting there. She spent most of Monday praying for people involved.

“We all just started lifting the whole school and the school community and the parents and all the kids, just lifting them up to God,” Thomas said. “God will take care of them.”

Community members said this was a senseless act of violence.

“That’s not normal, especially at a Christian school,” one local man, Dan, said. “You don’t expect it to happen at a place like that.”

Even so, a Center for Homeland Defense and Security database counted more than 320 total school shootings at K-12 schools in 2024 so far.

“I think it can happen in any community. I think we’re living in a pretty broken world right now and this is an indication of that,” a local woman, Amy, said. “To me, it’s really sad.”

One Madison man said when something like this happens “so close to home, it makes it that much more real.”

Many members of the Madison community said something needs to be done to prevent school shootings.

“If we have to take guns off the market, let’s do it. Kids keep getting killed and it’s unnecessary,” Thomas said. “And then parents are hurting. I’m thinking, ‘God, thank God my kids are grown.’”

Thomas said she will never forget this day, explaining it was hard to even leave her house today knowing what had happened just down the road.

She said she will continue to pray for all involved — but also for this to never happen again.

“I’m hurting for those parents. I’m hurting for those kids,” Thomas said.