Abundant Life school shooting victims: Madison mayor demands respect
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway ended a press conference in the wake of a Madison school shooting by demanding “respect” for victims and families.
MILWAUKEE — The mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, got heated during a news conference Tuesday when reporters pressed for more information about the shooting at a private Christian school that left a teacher and a student dead and six others injured.
“It is absolutely none of y’all’s business who was harmed in this incident,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway told reporters asking about the identities of the victims. “Please, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured.”
Police said 15-year-old student Natalie Rupnow opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, a K-12 school with about 400 students, on Monday shortly before 11 a.m. local time. Rupnow later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
Two students were in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. Three other students and one teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries; two of the victims were released from nearby hospitals.
Authorities on Tuesday said they were still working to identify a motive for the shooting and learn where the teenager got the handgun used in the attack. Authorities have searched the suspect’s home and have spoken with her family members, who were cooperating with investigators, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said.
When asked whether the suspect’s parents or anyone else could face charges, Rhodes-Conway said “We don’t know nearly enough yet.”
‘Don’t feed off their pain’
The pointed response from the mayor came at the tail end of a tense news conference just over 24 hours after the city of Madison, about 80 miles from Milwaukee, was rocked by its second school shooting this year. During the news conference, multiple media outlets inquired about the victims — who have yet to be identified.
One outlet asked Rhodes-Conway for more general information on the victims, including about their personalities and if the students were involved in sports. The mayor declined to comment.
Another reporter — who noted being there for 27 hours — asked if officials wanted to dispel rumors circulating social media, including about the victims, why proper people weren’t in place to answer questions, provide clarification, or set the record straight.
“I don’t know how many times I can say this: We will share good, factual information when we can. None of you is obliged to stay here. You’re free to leave. You don’t have to be sitting in this room if you don’t want to,” Rhodes-Conway said, expressing frustration.
“Just have some human decency folks. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal,” she said. “Don’t feed off their pain. We’ll share what we can when we can and not before that. Thank you.”
Who is Satya Rhodes-Conway?
Monday’s attack has pushed Rhodes-Conway into the national spotlight as chief executive of Wisconsin’s capital city.
She was born in Espanola, New Mexico, in 1971. Her family later moved to Ithaca, New York, where Rhodes-Conway lived until she left to attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
She then earned her master’s in ecology from the University of California, Irvine. In 2002, Rhodes-Conway moved to Madison, where she later served on the city’s common council between 2007 and 2013.
Before being elected mayor, Rhodes-Conway was a senior associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center on Wisconsin Strategy — a progressive think tank — and was the managing director of the university’s Mayors Innovation Project. She was also treasurer of her neighborhood association and sat on numerous city committees addressing transportation and the environment.
Rhodes-Conway became the first out lesbian elected as a mayor in Wisconsin, and only the second woman to become mayor of Madison. She was first elected mayor in 2019 and reelected in 2023.
Rhodes-Conway is chair emerita of Climate Mayors, an appointed member of EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee, a founding member of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, and a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, according to her biography on the mayor’s website. She serves on various committees and task forces for the United States Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities.