Victims of Wisconsin school shooting identified as details emerge about the home life of teen who opened fire

Unanswered questions stay a couple of fatal shooting at a Madison, Wisconsin, non-public college Monday as new particulars emerge concerning the upbringing of the teenage woman who allegedly opened fireplace.

Investigators are working to piece collectively how and why 15-year-old freshman Natalie Rupnow, who glided by the identify “Samantha,” allegedly dedicated the act that left one trainer and a scholar lifeless and wounded six others at Plentiful Life Christian College, one week earlier than Christmas.

Erin Michelle West, 42, of DeForest, and Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison, have been each pronounced lifeless on the scene of the capturing, the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Workplace stated in a information launch Wednesday.

The shooter seems to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, in response to Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. She was pronounced lifeless at an area hospital Monday because of “firearm associated trauma,” the medical expert’s workplace stated, noting extra testing is underway.

Barnes stated Tuesday figuring out Rupnow’s motive is a prime precedence and that it seems to be a “mixture of things,” however declined to offer extra info.

Rupnow had been in touch with a 20-year-old man in Carlsbad, California, who authorities say was plotting a mass capturing with {the teenager} and instructed her he was planning to assault a authorities constructing, the Associated Press reported, citing courtroom paperwork.

CNN has reached out to Carlsbad police and the FBI for info.

Rupnow’s mother and father are cooperating with police, Barnes stated, as extra particulars concerning the teen’s dwelling life come to mild. Court docket paperwork present Rupnow’s mother and father have been married to one another and divorced from one another twice, with courtroom orders requiring the teenager to separate time between her mom’s dwelling and her father’s, in response to courtroom data obtained by CNN Wednesday.

It’s unclear whether or not Rupnow’s mother and father owned or possessed the gun used within the capturing, Barnes instructed CNN. Police, together with the district lawyer’s workplace, will “need to take a look at if the mother and father could have been negligent,” he stated.

Rupnow’s mother and father – Jeff and Mellissa Rupnow – haven’t responded to CNN’s repeated requests for remark.

Police are additionally speaking to college students to find out whether or not bullying was one of many elements, he stated, and investigators are trying via the web presence of the shooter to attempt to be taught new info.

Mackynzie Wilson, a sophomore on the college who had a locker subsequent to Rupnow’s, stated she by no means thought the coed she described as shy can be able to finishing up an act of such violence.

“She was actually quiet. She didn’t actually have any pals, and he or she simply appeared actually lonely,” Wilson instructed CNN. “It wasn’t like she was attempting to slot in. She appeared very content material being alone.”

Right here’s what we all know:

• Six victims wounded: Two college students with life-threatening accidents stay hospitalized, whereas 4 different folks with minor accidents have been discharged, the Madison Police Division stated in a launch Wednesday. CNN has reached out to SSM Well being St. Mary’s Hospital – Madison for an replace on the circumstances of the 2 remaining sufferers.

• Police hint weapons: Police stated Rupnow used a handgun to hold out the assault. The handgun and a second gun that was not used within the assault have been discovered on the scene of the capturing Monday, Madison police said Wednesday. The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced the origins of the weapons, however police received’t present additional info on the weapons “because it may jeopardize our investigation,” the assertion stated. That can assist reply questions like “the origin of that weapon, who bought it, and the way it received from a producer all the best way to the arms of a 15-year-old woman,” Barnes stated.

• Risk of felony expenses: The mayor of Madison stated it’s too early to comment on whether or not the mother and father of the shooter will face criminal charges. Barnes stated beforehand investigators are “if the mother and father could have been negligent.” He additionally stated the mother and father are cooperating and as of Monday evening, investigators “don’t have any cause to imagine that they’ve dedicated a criminal offense presently.”

• Hyperlinks to capturing membership: Jeff Rupnow had posted a photograph on Fb of his daughter at a capturing vary in August. Within the photograph, {the teenager} will be seen sporting a black shirt with the identify of the band KMFDM, whose music lyrics have additionally been cited by the scholars who carried out the 1999 bloodbath at Columbine Excessive College in Colorado, the place 13 folks have been killed, CNN has reported. KMFDM issued a press release condemning the 1999 assault and expressed sympathy for the victims, including that their music was supposed to face in opposition to violence, in response to Reuters.

• Paperwork not verified: Authorities are conscious of writings that have been posted by somebody who claimed to be a good friend of the shooter, however these paperwork haven’t been verified. Barnes requested folks to not share the paperwork on-line as a result of they “cannot verify its authenticity,” including detectives are engaged on determining the place it got here from.

• A sophisticated custody association: Rupnow’s mother and father shared custody, and a mediation settlement from July 2022 notes the woman was enrolled in remedy and her mother and father have been inspired to take part, data present. The paperwork didn’t element how lengthy Rupnow was in therapy or the kind of remedy. Court docket orders mandated an advanced schedule requiring the teenager to separate time between her mother and father’ houses, that are 30 to 45 minutes aside, a number of instances per week, data present.

Victims recognized as creative scholar and caring trainer

The tragic deaths of a teen scholar and substitute trainer at Plentiful Life Christian College shook the tightly linked college group. The college – which many alumni’s youngsters and grandchildren attend – is now grieving the losses.

College students described West, a trainer employed part-time by the college, as a loving one that devoted her time to supporting them.

Angel Brube, a seventh grader on the college, instructed CNN he knew the trainer properly and described her as “at all times very variety and caring” and “a extremely good individual.”

“She was additionally very pleasant and communicative,” Brube stated.

Wilson, the sophomore, stated dropping her trainer who she had seen simply two hours earlier than the capturing “actually damage.” “I simply want I may have gone again and given her a hug,” she instructed CNN.

“She actually liked her youngsters, and he or she actually, actually liked everybody at our faculty, and he or she would have performed something for them,” Wilson stated.

Just a few weeks in the past, West was substituting in a health club class and instructed Wilson “how she was so excited to see her daughters develop up and what they have been going to be and do with their lives,” Wilson recalled.

Vergara, a freshman on the college, was an animal lover who was captivated with artwork, studying and enjoying music, in response to her online obituary at Gunderson Funeral House.

“She was an avid reader, liked artwork, singing and enjoying keyboard within the household worship band,” her obituary reads. “She shared a particular bond together with her beloved pets, Ginger (cat) and Coco (canine).”

Her funeral service might be held on Saturday morning in Madison, in response to the obituary. Vergara is survived by her mother and father and brother.

West and Vergara died of “homicidal firearm associated trauma,” preliminary post-mortem outcomes discovered. The medical expert’s workplace stated it will likely be conducting extra testing.

“They’re built-in into our lives, and they are going to be eternally remembered,” Wilson’s mom Lyndsay O’Connor, an alumnus of the college, instructed CNN.

Residents and officers name for motion

For the college and employees at Plentiful Life, therapeutic is not going to occur shortly.

Wilson was in her composition class when she heard 5 loud bangs – two lecture rooms away from the place the capturing occurred. Some college students in her class joked concerning the noises being gunshots. However Wilson quickly realized it wasn’t a joke.

“Lively shooter, this isn’t a drill,” the principal introduced earlier than one other gunshot rang out and college students sat on the ground, holding one another and crying.

“I didn’t know if I used to be going to dwell or not since you don’t know who (the shooter) is. You don’t know what they’re able to. I didn’t know if it was somebody from our faculty or not,” Wilson stated.

Police arrived a couple of minutes later, and Wilson left the constructing together with her arms up, crying and shaking, she recalled.

Two days later, Wilson stated she’s nonetheless in shock however is “simply attempting to heal and transfer on” by leaning on the group for assist.

Wisconsin State Assemblyperson Jerry O’Connor, whose great-niece and nephew go to Plentiful Life, stated, “I feel it’s going to be somewhat little bit of time as they replicate again on what occurred.”

“My nephew may hear our bodies hitting the ground. My niece, throughout the corridor, may hear gunshots,” O’Connor instructed CNN Wednesday.

O’Connor’s brother-in-law is a basketball and golf coach on the college, and one other relative is the college’s principal, he stated.

“I used to be sitting in a restaurant in Nashville on Monday morning, and I checked out a information headline and it stated, ‘There have been shootings at Plentiful Life Christian college,’” O’Connor stated. “It’s fairly distressing for anybody that’s related to that college.”

A whole lot gathered exterior the Wisconsin State Capitol on Tuesday evening to recollect victims.

A Christmas tree adorned for the vacation season twinkled as mourners gathered in freezing temperatures to grieve, holding candles and hugging remedy canine.

For college kids like Wilson, it was troublesome returning to the college for the vigil due to the “worry and trauma that constructed up,” she stated.

Madison native Justin Myers introduced his two younger youngsters to the Tuesday vigil, telling CNN he had “instructed them the reality” about what occurred at Plentiful Life.

Though his youngsters don’t attend the Christian non-public college, he stated they have been ordered to undergo a safe protocol at their close by public college on Monday, what the daddy of two described as a capturing drill.

“It’s an epidemic, and I’m not an enormous believer within the ideas and prayers crap –– I don’t assume it really works,” he added. “We want motion, laws and legal guidelines to be sure that weapons don’t get into the arms of people that don’t have them.”

Nicole Hockley, the co-founder and co-CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, whose youngster was killed within the Sandy Hook capturing in 2012, stated in a press release following the capturing at Plentiful Life that “we should work collectively to guard our households and communities from gun violence.”

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan known as for extra motion from Congress to handle gun violence.

“From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many different shootings that don’t obtain consideration – it’s unacceptable that we’re unable to guard our kids from this scourge of gun violence,” Biden said in a statement Monday.

In an interview with CNN, Pocan stated: “I’ve sat via so many moments of silence on the flooring of Congress which are adopted by zero moments of motion.”

Breaking down Wisconsin legislation

Current Wisconsin legislation limiting gun entry to youngsters isn’t enough, Dane County Govt Melissa Agard stated Tuesday.

“Our legal guidelines in Wisconsin are far too lax with regards to entry of weapons by youngsters,” Agard stated Tuesday.

“We must always have background checks. We must always have crimson flag payments, we ought to be offering satisfactory assist for everybody in our group with regards to behavioral well being,” Agard added. “Individuals shouldn’t be ready once they elevate their hand and ask for assist.”

Each federal and Wisconsin legislation usually make it unlawful for somebody youthful than 18 to own a firearm. State legislation equally makes it unlawful for any individual to deliberately promote, mortgage or give a harmful weapon to somebody youthful than 18 –– however there are exceptions similar to permitting minors to own a firearm for goal apply below grownup supervision, to be used within the armed forces or for looking.

Somebody who deliberately sells, loans or provides a harmful weapon to an individual below 18 can resist three and a half years in jail, in response to Wisconsin legislation. If the minor makes use of a harmful weapon and causes demise to themselves or one other individual, violators can resist six years in jail.

Wisconsin additionally has a child access firearm law that makes it unlawful to recklessly retailer a loaded firearm inside attain or easy accessibility of a kid youthful than 14.

Anybody who recklessly shops or leaves a loaded firearm throughout the attain or easy accessibility of a kid can resist 9 months in jail if that youngster takes the firearm with out permission and if the kid makes use of the gun and “causes bodily hurt or demise to himself, herself or one other.”

Prosecutors in recent times have taken steps to carry mother and father accountable for offering their youngsters with firearms they’d go on to make use of in class shootings. Two such instances embrace college shootings at an Oxford, Michigan high school in 2021 and a Winder, Georgia high school in September.

CNN’s Taylor Romine, Sarah Dewberry, Elise Hammond, Holly Yan, Steve Almasy, Jillian Sykes, Caroll Alvarado, Whitney Wild and Taylor Galgano contributed to this report.

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