When the shooter is a girl

On Monday, after the shooting at a private school in Madison, Wisconsin, a hashtag quickly appeared among the X trends: “Another Trans”. Rather than offering their usual “thoughts and prayers,” conservative Internet users jumped to conclusions when they noticed that the person responsible for the crime had adopted the first name “Samantha” on social media. According to them, it could only be an “other” transgender person.

It turns out that the real first name of the person responsible for the shooting was not “Samantha” but Natalie. Fifteen-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire with a handgun in a study room where students from several classes at Abundant Life Christian School were present. She took her own life after killing a teacher and injuring five students.

Young women are very rarely involved in shootings. This year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, nine shooting suspects were teenage girls, compared to 249 teenagers or men when gender was identified.

A manifesto attributed to Rupnow is circulating on social media but has not been authenticated by the authorities. The person who wrote the document, titled “War on Humanity,” claims she was “learned to hate people and society” and calls her parents “trash.” She states that she acquired firearms “through lies and manipulation, as well as my father’s stupidity.” She describes her desire to die by suicide, while noting that a shooting was “evolutionarily better than one stupid, boring suicide.”

During a press conference, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes made it clear that speculation about Rupnow’s gender identity was nothing more than a diversion in his eyes.

“I don’t know if Natalie was transgender or not. And frankly, I don’t think it matters,” Barnes said. “I don’t think what happened today has anything to do with how she or he wants to identify themselves. »

(Photo AP)