Names Released of Teacher, Teen Killed at Madison School
Shooting left three dead, including alleged perpetrator.
Mourners enter City Church on the east side of Madison, Wis., on Dec. 17, 2024, one day after a shooter killed two people at Abundant Life Christian School. The shooter was a student who is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot. Anya van Wagtendonk/WPR
The people shot and killed at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday were a 42-year-old substitute teacher who worked part-time at the school and a 14-year-old girl, who loved music and adored her pets.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office released the names of the victims on Wednesday. They were Erin M. West, a teacher from DeForest, and Rubi P. Vergara of Madison, a freshman student at Abundant Life.
Preliminary results from forensic autopsies show West and Vergara died from “homicidal firearm related trauma,” the medical examiner’s office said.
Police have previously disclosed that 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow fatally shot two people during a study hall late Monday morning before apparently shooting and killing herself. At least six people were injured, authorities have said.
Additional testing is underway, but the medical examiner’s office says preliminary results confirm Rupnow died from “firearm related trauma.”
West and Vergara were pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, while Rupnow was pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to the medical examiner.
An obituary for Vergara described her as an “avid reader,” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
It added that the teen shared a “special bond” with her cat, Ginger, and her dog, Coco.
Vergara leaves behind numerous loving relatives, including her brother, mother and father, the obituary says.
An obituary for West was not immediately available online.
Names released of teacher, 14-year-old killed at Madison school was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
