The 15-year-old girl who fatally shot two people and wounded several others at a Wisconsin Christian school had two guns on her at the time of the attack, authorities revealed Wednesday.
Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow had two handguns when she opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison Monday morning, killing substitute teacher Erin West and freshman Rubi Vergara, Police Chief Shon Barnes said, noting the girl’s motive remains unclear.
“I do not know 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.”
Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow had two guns on her at the time of the shooting, authorities said. Facebook/Jeff Rupnow
Rupnow had been in contact with Alexander Paffendorf, 20, who was allegedly planning his own attack in California. Facebook / Gabriella K. KranichBarnes said they do not know how Rupnow obtained two handguns and declined to share who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
Authorities also revealed late Tuesday that Rupnow had been in contact with Alexander Paffendorf, 20, who was planning a coordinated attack targeting a government building in California.
“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.
The civil order doesn’t say which building he allegedly planned to strike or details of his conversations with Rupnow, who died by suicide after the shooting.
Rupnow gunned down a substitute teacher and fellow student before taking her own life. Facebook/Jeff Rupnow
Authorities revealed that Rupnow had been in contact with Alexander Paffendorf, 20, who was planning a coordinated attack targeting a government building in California. APA San Diego Superior Court judge approved the order under California’s red flag gun law Tuesday night.
The order requires Paffendorf to turn over all his guns and ammunition to police within 48 hours or less.
Authorities did not provide any additional details about Paffendorf’s interactions with Rupnow except to state he was plotting a mass shooting with her.
Several hundred people attended a vigil for the shooting victims on Capitol Square in Madison on Dec. 17, 2024. Mark Hoffman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Authorities have not yet determined a motive in the shooting. JEFFERY PHELPS/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockLocal police, with help from the FBI, are investigating online records and interviewing the shooter’s parents and classmates to try to determine a motive, Barnes said.
Police said they did not know if anyone specific was targeted in the attack or if it had been planned in advance.
Rupnow was one of just nine female students who have committed a school shooting since 1999 and was a year younger than the average school shooter, according to an analysis by the Washington Post.
With Post wires
