Disinformation driven by hate.
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Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes criticized transphobes who spread a false rumor that the teenage shooter who killed a student and a teacher and injured six others at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday was transgender.
The shooter, a 15-year-old girl identified during a press conference on Monday night, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived at the school and died en route to the hospital.
In the aftermath, transphobic narratives have falsely linked school shooters to the transgender community as a means of portraying
trans people as dangerous. This incident was no exception, despite police providing no information about the shooter’s gender identity or motive.
Unsubstantiated claims about the shooter’s gender identity have surfaced but were later deleted. These posts, including one from self-described
January 6 "political prisoner" John Strand, offered no evidence to support their claims. The assertions were made shortly after the incident and lacked any additional context or verification.
