MADISON, Wis. — The shooter at a religious school in Wisconsin had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others, the city’s police chief said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday, before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.

“We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we’ll do our best to try to add or give as much information to our public as possible,” Barnes said.

The student who was killed was identified in an obituary released Wednesday as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison. She was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to the obituary. The Associated Press’ attempts to reach the girl’s family by phone and email on Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.

The Dane County medical examiner Wednesday evening identified the teacher who was killed as 42-year-old Erin Michelle West, after initially identifying her as Michelle E. West. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for West in public records hung up when reached by a reporter Wednesday evening.

Barnes released the name of the shooter, Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, hours after the shooting on Monday. Barnes said the medical examiner would release the names of those killed, but the state’s crime victims privacy law would bar releasing the names of those wounded.

Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with her parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes said.

Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.

“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”

While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.

Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents. Divorce records indicate that Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don’t say why.

Tension over police not releasing information had spilled over into a news conference on Tuesday, where Barnes left without taking questions. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway grew increasingly terse in her responses as reporters asked questions she could not answer.

“It is absolutely none of y’alls business who was harmed in this incident,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Please, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured. Just have some human decency, folks. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal. Don’t feed off their pain. We’ll share what we can when we can and not before that.”

Barnes on Wednesday defended the police department’s handling of information about the shooting because it has moved from a crisis response to the investigation phase.

“We’ve been trying to be as transparent as possible to give as much information as we can during the critical phase of this incident,” Barnes said. “Now we’re in the investigative phase. And so the information may not be as forthcoming.”

Tamrin Olden, a former police department spokesperson in California whose company provides communications training for law enforcement, said she advises departments to give routine updates with factual information after critical incidents and avoid unnecessarily delaying the release of information. She said that communications errors can cause frustration in the community, undermine the public’s trust and compound the underlying tragedy.

“Your credibility gets tarnished and the incident sometimes gets remembered for these things rather than remembering and honoring the victims, which is where the focus should be,” she said.