Pastor Rob Warren of Doxa Church, shared his memories of a teacher killed during the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, last week. He remembered her as “a woman who loved Jesus and loved people.” the shooter used a 9mm handgun to kill 2 and wound 6. The shooter did not survive the massacre. One student and one teacher were killed.
Erin West, 42, was the teacher slain in the attack. She was a beloved member of both her Church and school. She had taught at Abundant Life for 4 years. “She was kind, she was extremely compassionate, generous,” said Pastor Rob Warren. He went on to say “That’s kind of like the fruit of her life, but I think at the core was she was a woman who loved Jesus and loved people, and that was honestly why she was in that classroom on Monday.”
He also remembered comforting the family of the deceased. “We just kind of sat there with him and we cried,” the Pastor said. “It’s your friend and it’s your friend’s kids that you’re looking at. It just becomes more and more real.” He also explained that He knows that it’s not just the sentiment of, ‘I’m going to see her again one day and she’s at peace,‘ but because of her faith, we know that she’s actually at peace right now.”
The school released a statement honoring West. “ALCS is a better school for the work of Erin West. She served our teachers and students with grace, humor, wisdom, and — most importantly — with the love of Jesus. Her loss is a painful and deep one and she will be greatly missed not just among our staff, but our entire ALCS family.” The school also released a statement on the other victim.
The school described her as “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.” Abundant life said “[She] was a blessing to her class and our school. She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister. Often seen with a book in hand, she had a gift for art and music.” The school said she was gentle and loving.
After the shooter started firing inside a study hall “full of students from multiple grade levels,” at a small Wisconsin Christian school dozens of officers descended on the scene. Law enforcement was alerted by a 911 call from a second grader. The murderer. Identified by police as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound by police and died en route to the hospital.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that houses approximately 420 students from pre-k to 12th grade in Madison, the state capital. Police Chief Shon Barnes said, “Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. … We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened.“ He added “Everyone was targeted in this incident and everyone was put in equal danger.” Police do not believe that anyone was targeted specifically.
Barnes said that the shooter’s father, as well as the rest of the family, was cooperating with police. “He lost someone as well,” Barnes said of Rupnow’s father. “And so we’re not going to rush the information. We’ll take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.” Police have searched the shooter’s home for clues related to the attack. “They were cooperative. Despite this tragedy, they still lost a child. They still lost a member of their family,” Barnes said.
Featured image: Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons