A day after the shooting at a Christian school in the US state of Wisconsin, it is still unclear what the motive was of 15-year-old gunman Natalie Rupnow. A manifesto that the teenage girl is said to have left behind may provide answers.
Detectives in the state of Wisconsin are studying the manifesto attributed to Natalie Rupnow, who also went by the name Samantha. The 15-year-old girl shot and killed a fellow student and a teacher at Abundant Life, a Christian private school in the city of Madison, on Monday. She injured six others, who were slightly injured or are now stable. Rupnow herself succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the way to the hospital.
The American news channel CNN reports through a police source that the girl “was dealing with problems and had expressed some of them in writing, which she (the police, ed.) are now watching.”
A manifesto appeared on social media, posted by someone who may have known Rupnow, but authorities have not yet confirmed that the document actually came from Rupnow. “A document about this shooting is currently circulating on social media, but we have not yet been able to verify its authenticity,” local police chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference.
The question of how the 15-year-old teenager obtained a firearm also remains unclear. The police did announce that it was a second-grade child who had called the emergency center. Typically, children in second grade are only 7 to 8 years old.
The shooting was the 322nd at an American school this year. Only last year there were more, with 349. In response to the shooting, outgoing President Joe Biden is once again calling for stricter gun legislation in the United States. “We can never accept that senseless violence traumatizes children and their families and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said.
Anyone who has questions about suicide or needs a conversation can contact the Suicide Line via the toll-free number 1813 or at www.zelfbloed1813.be.
