Wisconsin school shooting victims remembered as teen musician and beloved teacher
Authorities have identified the victims of the Abundant Life Christian School shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, as Rubi Vergara, a 14-year-old student, and Erin West, a 42-year-old teacher.
West and Vergara, whose identities were confirmed by the Dane County Medical Examiner’s office on Wednesday night, were killed in the shooting at the private K-12 school on Monday. Police said the shooter, a 15-year-old female student, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
West had been a substitute teacher at Abundant Life for three years before becoming the school’s in-house substitute teacher and coordinator, the school said in a statement.
“ALCS is a better school for the work of Erin West,” the school said. “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.”
West was also a mother. A student told CNN that West was “so excited to see her daughters grow up and what they were going to be and do with their lives.”
Vergara had been at the school since kindergarten and was in the 9th grade this year. “Her gentle, loving, and kind heart was reflected in her smile. Rubi was a blessing to her class and our school. She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister,” the school said.
An obituary on the local funeral home website described Vergara as an avid reader who loved art and music. Vergara’s funeral service will take place on Saturday.
Six others — a teacher and five students — were injured in the shooting. Two of the students face life-threatening injuries, police said.
Investigators have not yet determined a motive in the shooting. The FBI detained Alexander Paffendorf, a California man, late on Tuesday and temporarily seized his guns after he was allegedly found to have plotted a separate mass shooting with the Wisconsin school shooter. Court documents did not include details about their alleged plans.
According to NBC News: “It’s not clear whether there are any criminal charges in the matter. A spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. … A phone number for Paffendorf or his family could not immediately be found in public records Wednesday.”
Recent years have seen a sharp increase in school shootings in the U.S., but data shows that female shooters are rare. Some parents of Abundant Life students told The Washington Post that they enrolled their children there assuming that it would be safer than a larger public school.
There have been 327 shootings on school grounds so far this year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which determines school shootings as “when a gun is fired, brandished (pointed at a person with intent), or bullet hits school property, regardless of the number of victims, time, day, or reason.”
