Wisconsin school shooter had 2 guns and got messages from man accused of plotting his own attack

[December 19, 2024]  By TODD RICHMOND, SCOTT BAUER and RYAN J. FOLEY

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.

Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life 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.

A California judge, meanwhile, issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.

According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn't say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn't detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.

The student who was killed in Monday's school shooting 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.

The school's communication director, Barbara Wiers, said in a statement Wednesday evening that Vergara had attended the school since kindergarten.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

West worked as a substitute teacher for three years before accepting a position as the school's substitute coordinator and an in-building substitute teacher, Wiers said.

"Our hearts are heavy with these losses," Wiers wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter's 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.

The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.

But the Wisconsin shooting stands out because school shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in the U.S., with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.

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