The mass shooting at Abundant Life Christian School left three people dead, including the 15-year-old shooter who took her own life, according to police. A beloved teacher, 42-year-old Erin Michelle West, and a 14-year-old student, Rubi Patricia Vergara, were shot inside a classroom. Madison-based psychotherapist Erin Neill specializes in trauma for children and families and offered guidance in the aftermath of the violence. Trish Kilpin, director of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety, described its work in responding to the shooting.
 

Erin Neill
Founder and psychotherapist, HEART Counseling

• Reconciling the heartache and trauma of a deadly school shooting like the one at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison is certainly most difficult for those directly affected. Still, even people far from the violence feel the collective pain. Neill offered advice for healing.
• Neill: “I hope that people can let themselves feel how they feel, like they can just feel that grief. As humans, we don’t love to feel uncomfortable. We don’t love feeling grief. But it’s okay to feel bad right now. And then, yeah, I think I see a lot of people really trying to figure out, ‘How do I make meaning? How do I honor the victims? How do I help the community?’ — whether it’s providing meals or church services, things like that have happened and will continue.”

Trish Kilpin
Director, Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety

• The state’s Office of School Safety provides crisis response and recovery assistance following school shootings, and rushed into action upon learning about the mass shooting at Abundant Life Christian School. Its staff was instrumental in arranging reunification of students inside the school with their families. Kilpin described what it’s like in the immediate aftermath of deadly school violence.
• Kilpin: “It’s heavy work. It is. It’s heavy work. And it’s work that I have a deep passion to make sure we get it right. We want to make sure that our efforts do no harm. And really, you know, in the most horrible tragedies, there’s not one thing that we can say to make it all better for people. But we can hear them and listen to them, and they can feel the love and the warmth from the community. So, we’ve created with them, had them create opportunities for their community, their church community, to gather and support each other. And that’s been really a beautiful process to see.”

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