The victims killed in Monday’s shooting at a small private school in Madison, Wisconsin, have been identified as a caring teacher who “would have done anything” for her students and a 14-year-old freshman who loved reading, art and music.
Erin Michelle West, 42, and Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, were both pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, CNN reported citing the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office. Police say a 15-year-old female student carried out the attack.
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Four students also suffered minor injuries, while two remain hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police told CNN on Wednesday. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
An online obituary for Vergara described how she loved singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band and said she shared a “special bond” with her beloved cat Ginger and dog Coco.
She had attended Abundant Life—a tight-knit school with about 400 students spread across 13 grades—since kindergarten, the school’s communications director told the Associated Press.
The school also said West had worked as a substitute teacher for three years before joining Abundant Life as the school’s substitute coordinator and in-building substitute teacher.
Students told CNN that West was “always very kind and caring” and “a really good person.” She was a mother who was excited to watch her daughters grow up and see what they would do with their lives.
“She really loved her kids, and she really, really loved everyone at our school, and she would have done anything for them,” one sophomore told CNN.
The school told the AP, “Our hearts are heavy with these losses.”
Police say Abundant Life student Natalie Rupnow—who preferred to go by the name Samantha—opened fire Monday on a mixed-grade study hall.
Authorities said they were still trying to determine what motivated the attack, but on Wednesday they revealed Rupnow had been in contact with a 20-year-old man in Carlsbad, California, who was allegedly “plotting” a mass killing with the teen.
A student whose locker was next to Rupnow’s told CNN that the girl, who reportedly had a troubled home life, was shy and quiet, but didn’t seem capable of violence.
“She didn’t really have any friends, and she just seemed really lonely,” the student told CNN. “It wasn’t like she was trying to fit in. She seemed very content being alone.”
According to court documents obtained by the Washington Post, Rupnow’s parents had been married and divorced three times, and the teen was in therapy while she tried to decide which parent to spend weekends with.
Investigators are still trying to determine where she got the gun that she used to carry out the attack. In August, her father, Jeff Rupnow, shared photos of her shooting at a gun club that they’d joined in the spring. In the images, she’s wearing a T-shirt featuring a band that was also idolized by one of the Columbine shooters.
Police said Rupnow’s parents are cooperating with their investigation.
