# A school shooting just happened in Madison, Wisconsin \[Dec 16, 2024\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 16, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721 "2024-12-16T19:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/21 "2024-12-17T01:52:42Z")
Not the first time either. There was a 6-fatality shooting at a Christian school in Nashville last year (also done by a female) and a couple weeks ago, one at a small Seventh-Day Adventist school in California, although the only fatality was the shooter. I’ve said before, and will again, that it’s nothing new. There was a non-fatal shooting at my junior high in Des Moines in 1972, and I never knew about it even though I went there just a few years later until people mentioned it on that school’s Facebook page. There was a murder/suicide a decade later at a high school, between a boy, and a girl who rejected him. One of my friends was her best friend, and he had harassed and stalked her relentlessly for a couple of YEARS but his lawyer daddy would keep getting him off the hook. > **[California shooting suspect used fake story to gain access to school](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl3njg544eo)** > > Two Kindergarten-aged children wounded in the shooting are in critical but stable condition, police say. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/22 "2024-12-17T01:54:32Z")
For 9 1/2 years, I assumed that the only reason we talked about Sandy Hook was because it was mostly white kids from upper-class families, and that if something similar would happen in a low-income community to mostly black and/or Hispanic kids from a low-income area, it wouldn’t even make the local news, and hoped my theory would never be put to the test. And then Uvalde happened. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/23 "2024-12-17T02:03:44Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Just saw a report that the shooter was female Actually the student was trans, according to this report: > **[Samantha Rupnow Discord account, BrainedOut manifesto: hatred of men](https://scallywagandvagabond.com/2024/12/samantha-rupnow-discord-account-brainedout-manifesto-wisconsin-shooter/)** > > Samantha Rupnow Discord account, BrainedOut left manifesto calling for the extermination of men and faulting the patriarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/24 "2024-12-17T02:03:46Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > If CEO shootings were as common as school shootings, would they still be news? Probably. We’d be hearing constant screaming about how the end of civilization is nigh, and how the killing _has_ to be stopped no matter the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/25 "2024-12-17T02:07:40Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > If only the woke left would allow schools to post the Ten Commandments, this wouldn’t happen anymore. > > Wait, I’m hearing that this was a Christian school. Never mind. [/emily litella] No instead they will use it as evidence that Christians are persecuted in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/26 "2024-12-17T03:09:12Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Actually the student was trans, according to this report: You didn’t read your own cite? > BREAKING: Samantha Rupnow is allegedly the shooter at Abundant Life Christian school. She was a biological woman. Witnesses are claiming that the shooter "looked like a transgender. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/27 "2024-12-17T04:11:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If that holds up it’ll be a rare bird. Familicides have a decent fraction of female perps. Shooting up a school or workplace? Much lower female perp fraction. [She didn’t like Mondays?](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-boomtown-rats-i-dont-like-mondays-dark-backstory/) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/28 "2024-12-17T04:17:05Z")
Yeah, Brenda Spencer did come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/29 "2024-12-17T04:24:15Z")
There doesn’t seem to be any evidence that Natalie/Samantha was trans, or even gender nonbinary. (Maybe her given name was Natalie Samantha, or Samantha Natalie? I’m a fan of unconventional middle names myself.) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/30 "2024-12-17T04:27:51Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Witnesses are claiming that the shooter "looked like a transgender. I’d laugh at the stupidity if it wasn’t so tragic. Btw, she looks like a young woman to me. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/31 "2024-12-17T04:28:46Z")
What the Hell does “look like a Transgender” mean? Did her shoes look comfortable? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/32 "2024-12-17T04:56:07Z")
No, no, comfortable shoes is lesbian. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/33 "2024-12-17T06:01:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And then Uvalde happened. I have noticed something in school shootings post-Uvalde that would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic: there is always a cop giving a report about how fast officers were able to respond and how they engaged the suspect right away. Every time this happens (only a few times that I have seen but still a few too many nonetheless) some sheriff has to get on the mic and declare for the public “we’re not like those Uvalde cops”. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/34 "2024-12-17T12:28:06Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Probably. We’d be hearing constant screaming about how the end of civilization is nigh, and how the killing _has_ to be stopped no matter the cost. [We’re hearing that _now_, after _one_ CEO shooting](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/12/decivilization-political-violence-civil-society/680961/). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/35 "2024-12-17T12:28:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > If that holds up it’ll be a rare bird. Familicides have a decent fraction of female perps. Shooting up a school or workplace? Much lower female perp fraction. > > [She didn’t like Mondays?](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-boomtown-rats-i-dont-like-mondays-dark-backstory/) I have a couple teachers among my small extended family. It’s a high stress job with a heavily female demographic. I’d not be at all surprised to find “teacher ‘goes postal’ at her work = school” to be an up-and-coming thing. Just as males for many years specialized in “going postal” at their USPS branch. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/36 "2024-12-17T12:29:52Z")
I wouldn’t think teachers in general would shoot their students though (except in cases where they have been materially harassed by their students). The school board, OTOH… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/37 "2024-12-17T12:38:42Z")
My wife is a substitute teacher at an elementary school. Two days ago, she was consoling a teacher (taught there for 30 years) who was in tears, because an awful-behaving child (in kindergarten!) had been sucking up so much of her time and energy. The kid even hits teachers sometimes — and the parents don’t care. We agreed that this is unsustainable. Public schools strive to serve all kids, but at some point Social Services has to help create another solution. Anyway, I’ll end this hijack here. This is for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/38 "2024-12-17T12:39:28Z")
ETA: @Gyrate 2 posts up. I should have included that. Shooting their school’s administration or the school board or certain parents, sure. Or maybe a peer teacher. But kids? 99.999% no way in hell. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/39 "2024-12-17T12:46:24Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > the media will forget all about this by tomorrow What do you think the media _should_ do? I think you’re implying that there’s some lesson we need to learn or some action we need to take as a result of this particular incident, but without knowing more (e.g. why the shooter did what she did, how she obtained the gun, and whether reasonable safety precautions could have prevented this), I’m not sure what that is. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721/40 "2024-12-17T13:55:46Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Though I doubt there was much thought, only prayer. I thought prayers were supposed to work ahead of time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-school-shooting-just-happened-in-madison-wisconsin-dec-16-2024/1011721.md?page=3)