2nd grader recounts deadly Wisconsin school shooting

ByMeredith Deliso ABCNews logo
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 8:00PM

A second grader recounted the moments when shots rang out in the deadly mass shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin.



Nora Gottschalk, an elementary school student at the small private school, told Chicago ABC station WLS that she was in the hallway when she heard the gunfire.



"I was changing from my shoes to my boots to go to lunch, 'cause I have recess after," the second grader told the station. "But then I heard the shooting. And screams."



Nora was still barefoot in the hours after the shooting.



"We went to the church right next to my school, and everyone was panicking still, because a lot of police were there," she told WLS.



Her dad, Karl Gottschalk, said he was on the road for work when he saw first responders.



"I saw the cops driving by, then I got the text from the school," he told WLS. "That really hit me hard as I'm driving down the road, seeing ambulances."



A second grade teacher called 911 to report the shooting Monday morning, according to Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. The chief had previously stated a second grade student called 911, but clarified during a press briefing on Tuesday the caller was actually a teacher.



A student and teacher were killed in the shooting, police said. Two students were hospitalized in critical condition, while three students and a teacher also suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The suspected shooter, a teenager who was a student at the school, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.



The shooting happened inside a classroom during a study hall with students from multiple grades, Barnes said.



Students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend the school.



Police identified the suspected shooter as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha.



Barnes said it appears a motive in the shooting appears to be a "combination of factors," though did not provide additional details amid the active investigation.



"This has been a rough day for our city. This has been a sad day," Barnes said. "This is going to be a day that will be etched in the collective minds and memories of all those from Madison."



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