Education

California man issued restraining order over contacting Madison school shooter as authorities identify those who were killed

New details became public in court documents and interviews with authorities investigating the teenager who took her own life after opening fire in a study hall at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, while authorities identified the 42-year-old teacher and 14-year-old student killed in the attack.

Associated Press

December 19, 2024 • South Central Region

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Plastic tape marked multiple times with the words Sheriff's Line Do Not Cross is attached to a wood post with the address number 4905 that is at one end of a sign with cracks in its paint that includes three handprints, an illustration of a bird and the words Campus for Kids, Infant, Pre-School - K4, Before/After School Care and Summer Programs that is placed in front of a pine landscaping shrub and stands on a small hill slope, with snow-dusted ground in the foreground and parked vehicles, tree trunks and a building in the background.

Police tape mark the crime scene at Abundant Life Christian School on Dec. 18, 2024, in Madison, two days after a student shot and killed a teacher and another student inside. (Credit: AP photo / Mark Vancleave)


AP News

By Todd Richmond, Scott Bauer and Ryan J. Foley, AP

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 on Dec. 18.

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 Dec. 16 before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Dec. 18.

“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 on Dec. 17 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 the Dec. 16 school shooting was identified in an obituary released Dec. 18 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 the evening of Dec. 18 were unsuccessful.

The Dane County medical examiner on the evening of Dec. 18 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 on the evening of Dec. 18.

The school’s communication director, Barbara Wiers, said in a statement on the evening of Dec. 18 that Vergara had attended the school since kindergarten.

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.

Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.


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