A 20-year-old California man was detained for allegedly planning a mass shooting at a government building in a parallel and coordinated attack with the teenage girl who gunned down two people at a Wisconsin Christian school on Monday, according to a report.
Alexander Paffendorf, of Carlsbad, exchanged messages with Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, 15, about targeting a local government building while she shot up the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, according to a gun violence restraining order obtained by CBS 8.
“During an FBI interview, Paffendorf admitted to the FBI agents that he told Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” the two-page emergency restraining order from the Carlsbad Police Department states.
Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow shot and killed a student and teacher Monday at her Wisconsin school. Facebook/Jeff Rupnow
Police outside the residence of Natalie Rupnow’s father on December 17, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
A family leaves a shelter following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, on Dec. 16, 2024. APThe civil order doesn’t say which building he allegedly planned to strike or details of his conversations with Rupnow, who killed herself after shooting dead a substitute teacher, 42-year-old Erin West, and a fellow student, 14-year-old freshman Rubi Vergara, at the school she attended.
A San Diego Superior Court judge approved the order under California’s red flag gun law Tuesday night, according to the local California news station.
The order requires Paffendorf to turn over all his guns and ammunition to police within 48 hours or less.
Paffendorf has not been charged with a crime. A court hearing on the restraining order is set for Jan. 3.
Soon after the judge approved the emergency order, more than a dozen police cars pulled up outside Paffendorf’s home, neighbors told CBS 8.
Rubi Patricia Vergara
Erin West, a substitute teacher at the school, was 42 years old. Abundant Life Christian School
Several hundred people attend a vigil for school shooting victims on December 17, 2024, at Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Natalie Rupnow in an undated Facebook photo posted by her father, Jeffrey Rupnow. Facebook/Jeff Rupnow“They had their full guns out all over the street,” neighbor Alex Gallegos told the station. “There were cop cars. I’d say about 15 cops here.”
He said he watched them carry out a large gun box from the home.
The messages between Paffendorf and Rupnow could provide some insight into the high school freshman’s motivation to commit a school shooting. Investigators are still searching for a motive for the deadly violence.
In addition to the two fatal victims, Rupnow shot and wounded five other students and one other teacher. Two of the students remain in critical condition.
