Madison mayor gets angry at news conference about school shooting

The mayor of Madison, Wis., lashed out at reporters at a news conference Tuesday about the shooting at a private Christian school that left a teacher and a student dead and six others injured, some seriously.

“It is absolutely none of your business who was injured in this incident,” Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway told reporters who asked 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,” she said.

Police say 15-year-old student Natalie Rupnow opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday shortly before 11 a.m. local time. Rupnow died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

On Tuesday afternoon, two students were in critical condition. Of the four others who were taken to nearby hospitals, two were still being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference.

The sharp response from the mayor came at the end of a tense news conference just over 24 hours after her city about 80 miles from Milwaukee was rocked by its second school shooting this year.

“I don’t know how many times I can say this: We share good, factual information when we can. None of you are obligated to stay here. You are free to leave. You do not have to sit in this room if you don’t want to,” she said after being asked several times about the victims and other unanswered questions, including how the school monitors bullying.

“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 share what we can when we can and not before. Thank you.”

Officials said Tuesday they are still working to identify a motive for the shooting and find out where the teenager got the gun used in the attack. Authorities searched the suspect’s home and spoke with her family members, who cooperated with investigators, Barnes said.

When asked if the suspect’s parents or anyone else could face charges, the mayor said, “We don’t know nearly enough yet.”

Contributor: Hannah Kirby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Madison’s mayor lashed out at reporters at news conference on school shooting