The teacher and student shot dead at a Christian school in Wisconsin have been identified as Erin West and Rubi Patricia Vergara.
Natalie Rupnow, 15, opened fire inside a study hall at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday.
Six others were wounded in the attack, including two students who remain in a critical condition, before Rupnow shot herself.
The motive for the shooting just days before students were due to break up Christmas remains unclear, with police only saying it appears to be a ‘combination of factors’.
However, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes confirmed alleged bullying at the school will be investigated.
‘Identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive is a combination of factors,’ the chief told reporters.
He said it does not appear the victims were targeted individually, adding: ‘Everyone was targeted.’
Barnes gave the number to a tip line for anyone who might have known Rupnow and her feelings.
‘There are always signs of a school shooting before it occurred. We’re looking into her online activity,’ he said.
He also revealed Rupnow brought two guns to the school and had exchanged messages with a man in California who was planning his own attack on a government building.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — prekindergarten through high school — with around 420 students in Madison, the state capital.
The school’s communication director, Barbara Wiers, said in a statement that Erin worked as a substitute teacher for three years before accepting a position as the school’s substitute coordinator and an in-building substitute teacher.
She said Rubi had attended the school since kindergarten.
‘Our hearts are heavy with these losses,’ Wiers wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Rubi was a freshman at the school and ‘an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band’, according to the obituary.
‘She shared a special bond with her beloved pets, Ginger (cat) and Coco (dog),’ the tribute adds.
The shooter’s parents, who are divorced, jointly shared custody of their child, but the shooter primarily lived with her 42-year-old father, according to court documents.
Barnes said the first 911 call to report an active shooter came in shortly before 11am from a second grade teacher — not a second grade student as he reported publicly Monday.
First responders who were in training just three miles away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the initial call.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
Carolyn Griese, 70, of Monona, didn’t have any affiliation with the school, but she felt moved to drive over Tuesday.
She cried as she placed flowers on the sidewalk.
‘When I was growing up, we worried about the atomic bomb,’ she said. ‘And now they actually practice active shooter scenarios. And I think how could that be? They’re children. Innocent children.’
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the shooting during a speech to students in Maryland on Tuesday.
‘Our nation mourns for those who were killed and we pray for the recovery of those who were injured,’ she said.
Harris also called for stronger gun control laws.
Several hundred people gathered Tuesday evening at the foot of the Vel Phillips statue outside the Wisconsin State Capitol, passing candles to each other and standing close against the winter chill.
Madison resident Cristian Cuahutepitzi said he attended the vigil to let the families of the victims know ‘we’re thinking of them’. He said his uncle’s two daughters go to the school.
‘They’re still a little bit shook,’ he said.
Naomi Allen, 16, is a student at the school. She said she had been in a nearby classroom when the shooting happened.
‘My best friend — if she hadn’t stayed home from school — she would have been in that room,’ she said.
Her dad Joe Allen said the country needs to take mental health seriously.
‘We really need some changes in the way we handle that issue,’ he said.
Joe Gothard, the superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District, said at the vigil that the tragedy happened less than two blocks away from his childhood home.
He said it wasn’t enough to say the district would work on safety.
‘We need to connect like we are tonight, each and every day and make a commitment that we know we’re there for one another, hopefully to avoid preventable tragedies like yesterday,’ he said.
The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the US in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms.
But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.
School shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in US history, with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
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