Freshman student Rubi Vergara and substitute teacher Erin West were identified as the two victims who were shot and killed inside Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin, according to reports.
The 14-year-old girl and 42-year-old educator were gunned down Monday morning when fellow student Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, 15, opened fire inside the private Christian school in Madison before turning the gun on herself.
Vergara was remembered in her obituary as someone who loved to sing and play keyboard in the family worship band and who “shared a special bond with her beloved pets,” including a dog and cat, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which cited an obituary.
Rubi Patricia Vergara
Rubi was also known as an avid reader who loved art.
The obituary for the teen said she will be “deeply missed” by her parents and brother, as well as several other relatives whom she left behind.
West, who was from the village of DeForest, was subbing for a regular teacher who was away on vacation, a parent said.
“The teacher died protecting her class,” Lyndsay O’Connor, whose daughter and son attend the school, told Wisconsin Right Now.
“Many more lives could have been taken. She (Rupnow) sent off multiple rounds.”
Erin West, a substitute teacher at the school, was 42 years old. Abundant Life Christian SchoolAn obituary was not immediately available for West.
The medical examiner’s office, which released the pair’s identities, said they died from “homicidal firearm related trauma” based on preliminary results from a forensic autopsy, WPR reported.
Five other students, including two hospitalized in critical condition, and one teacher were also wounded when Rupnow began firing inside a classroom during study hall.
The campus of Abundant Life Christian School after a school shooting on December 16, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. Getty Images
Mourners attend a candlelight vigil outside the Wisconsin Capitol on December 17. Jeff M. Brown for ZUMA PressRupnow, who police said died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following her twisted massacre, had been in therapy because of her troubled home life, according to court records obtained by the Washington Post.
She is one of just nine females to carry out a school shooting since 1999, according to the publication — as authorities try to pin down her motive.
A funeral service for Rubi will be held at a Madison church on Saturday, which will be livestreamed for friends and family to view, according to the funeral home handling arrangements.
