(NewsNation) — Residents in Madison, Wisconsin, continue to wrestle with Monday’s shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, where a 15-year-old student opened fire and killed two people while injuring six others.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told NewsNation that people continue to struggle with how another school shooting took place in the U.S. and how future tragedies can be prevented.
“Our community is really trying to grapple with this,” Barnes said.
Two students who sustained non-life-threatening injuries were released from the hospital on Monday night, Barnes said. Meanwhile, the investigation continues into the shooting in which Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha, opened fire at the non-denominational Christian school.
Rupnow was pronounced dead in transport to a hospital, while one teacher and one teenager were declared dead at the scene.
Barnes said Rupnow’s family is cooperating with the police and that investigators spoke at length with Rupnow’s father on Monday night. Barnes said Rupnow was not on police radar but said in many cases, information about suspects involved in school shootings comes to light after the fact.
Police plan to hold a news conference on Tuesday afternoon to discuss new details in their investigation, including about items that were taken from the family’s home Monday night. Barnes said that the search was done voluntarily and that investigators did not need a search warrant.
Barnes said police also hope to soon verify an online document that was circulating that could speak to the shooter’s motive. The chief said that other documents were taken from the home on Monday that could provide clues.
“We want to make sure that before we put any information out that certainly we are as accurate as we possibly can knowing that things may change,” Barnes told NewsNation. “But we also want to make sure that if this document is being circulated, that people know about it.”
He added: “We have to do everything in our power to prevent these (shootings) from happening again, again and again in our country.”
Madison police are working with the ATF to trace where the handgun used in Monday’s shooting came from, Barnes said. Police are trying to determine if the gun was in the home or if the weapon was given to Rupnow by another person.
“We don’t know,” Barnes said about the gun’s origin, adding, “Everyone is eager to know why this happened and we may never know.”
