A 15-year-old girl is identified as the shooter in a tragic incident at a Madison school, marking a rare case of a female perpetrator.
Madison: A tragic event unfolded at a Christian school in Wisconsin. Police have identified a 15-year-old student, Natalie Rupnow, as the shooter. She reportedly killed a classmate and a teacher before dying from what seems to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
This incident is particularly notable because female school shooters are extremely rare. If the police account is accurate, Rupnow would be one of only a handful of female shooters in recent decades. Most school shootings are committed by males.
Since 1999, only nine female students have been involved in school shootings, according to a Washington Post database. Advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety backs this up, noting that less than 5 percent of shooters in school incidents over the last 11 years have been female.
The statistics for mass shootings overall show a similar trend. Out of 197 mass shooting incidents recorded since 1966, 192 shooters were male, while only four were female and one was transgender. The majority of these shooters were white men.
Following the Madison shooting, some right-wing commentators spread unverified claims that the shooter was transgender. This sparked broader discussions about transgender individuals, which the police have urged the public to disregard.
Madison’s police chief, Shon Barnes, emphasized that the shooting should not be linked to the shooter’s gender identity. He expressed frustration over the personal biases that cloud the conversation, stating that the focus should be on the tragedy itself.
This isn’t the first time such narratives have emerged. After a shooting in Nashville last year, where the shooter was described as transgender, discussions about gender identity overshadowed the issue of gun violence.
Trans activist Alejandra Caraballo pointed out the double standard in how society reacts to mass shootings based on the shooter’s identity. She argued that the real issue is the country’s failure to address gun violence effectively.
