A teacher and a student killed in a shooting earlier this week at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified by authorities on Wednesday.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a press release provided to CBS News that Erin West, 42, and Rubi Vergara, 14, were fatally shot Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School.
Preliminary examinations determined that both men died from “firearm-related homicidal trauma.” Both men were pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner said.
An online obituary at a local burial site declared Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, a brother and a large extended family. He described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, sang and played keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position within the school was unclear.
The medical examiner also confirmed that a preliminary autopsy revealed that the suspected shooter, Natalie Rupnow, 15, a student at the same school, was pronounced dead Monday at a local hospital from “weapon-related trauma.” on fire”. Madison Police Chief Shon F. Barnes previously told reporters that Rupnow was pronounced dead while being transported to the hospital.
Police also said earlier that she may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooting at the Christian K-12 private school was reported shortly before 11 a.m. Monday. In addition to the two people killed and the shooter, six other people were injured.
Police said the shooting happened in a classroom where a study hall involving students from multiple grades was taking place.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said, but it’s unclear where the gun came from or how many shots were fired. A police source said the weapon used in the shooting appears to have been a 9mm pistol.
