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Posted on 05/09/2025 6:58:40 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. -- The father of the 15-year-old girl who opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School last December, killing two people and injuring six more is in custody, online records show.
According to online data provided by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Jeffrey Rupnow was booked into the Dane County Jail on Thursday. Madison police confirmed the arrest, and said Rupnow was taken into custody at around 3:45 a.m.
Online court records show he was formally charged Wednesday with two counts of intentionally selling a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 and one felony count of contributing to child delinquency. A warrant was issued for his arrest Wednesday and he was returned on that warrant on Thursday. Records in the case were unsealed Thursday afternoon.
Rupnow's daughter Natalie Rupnow, who went by "Samantha," was identified as the suspect in the Dec. 16, 2024 shooting that left Erin West and Rubi Patricia Vergara dead. West was a teacher at the school and Vergara was a student. Rupnow died by suicide at the scene.
Police searched the Rupnows' home on the day of the shooting. At the time, then-Police Chief Shon Barnes said the shooter's parents were cooperating with investigators. Complaint details shooter's access to guns
According to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County, unsealed Thursday afternoon, Jeffrey Rupnow told investigators he was "proactive" in handling his daughter's access to guns.
However, evidence collected from the Rupnows' home and further testimony from Rupnow show his child had access to numerous guns while he was aware of her ongoing mental health struggles.
According to the complaint, Rupnow told police on the day of the shooting that he had 12 guns at his home, locked in a safe. However, police allegedly only found eight of those firearms when searching the home.
The complaint alleges that Rupnow took one of the guns out of the safe the day before the shooting at his daughter's request, and he later told investigators that he couldn't remember if the gun was returned before he closed the safe back up.
Investigators found a manifesto in the home, written by the shooter, in which she idolized previous school shooters. They also allegedly found detailed floor plans of Abundant Life Christian School and a camcorder with videos of her handling guns inside the home and talking about killings and massacres.
Jeffrey Rupnow had previously been questioned about his daughter's suicidal tendencies in 2021. At the time he said he didn't take things seriously. In 2022, Madison police spoke to him about high-risk behavior the eventual shooter was engaging in on the internet.
When asked why he allowed his daughter to unpack and pack the gun safe, Rupnow allegedly told investigators "I didn't feel like I needed to babysit her with this."
Rupnow is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
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This is an interesting development. Think of all the arrests like this to follow in Milwaukee and Chicago! The single moms of all those teenage gang-bangers have a new day coming.
Ever wonder why there were so few mass killings before the 1970s when the mental hospitals were shut down and crazies allowed on the street?
semi-auto rifles have been around since 1903, yes, 1903.
Mass shootings were done mostly by criminal gangs fighting over turf.(St Valentine’s day massacre)
I can remember three in which crazies committed mass murder before the 1970s.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-first-mass-murder-us-history-180956927/
Howard Unruh 1949 with a luger pistol.
Richard Speck with a KNIFE, killed eight student nurses in 1966.
Charles Whitman in 1966. Main weapon a bolt action Remington hunting rifle.
Long past time to reopen the mental hospitals closed down. Almost every mass killer since then has been a KNOWN mental case.
Agreed. I really feel for the parents that have TRIED to get their kids committed...and no in Authority will help them!
Middle of the night, sends a message
I would add that if authorities thought she was such a danger, why didn't they act? Not to mention 'contributing to delinquency': how, exactly?
This is actually an anti-gun prosecution because to me, barring discovery of more evidence, the charges are not supported and the prosecution is hoping a bunch of angry leftist women on the jury will convict.
is hoping a bunch of angry leftist women on the jury will convict.
Don’t forget the panty wasted guys who will go along.
“The single moms of all those teenage gang-bangers have a new day coming.”
Never happen. You would be persecuting Mothers in an ‘at risk’, ‘underserved’, community.
I noticed that, too. Booked before 4am, LOL!
“This is actually an anti-gun prosecution because to me, barring discovery of more evidence, the charges are not supported and the prosecution is hoping a bunch of angry leftist women on the jury will convict.”
Well, this IS all happening in, ‘The People’s Republik of Madistan.’ I’d expect no less.
“Almost every mass killer since then has been a KNOWN mental case.”
AND, almost every mass killer since then has been a KNOWN drug (either legal or illegal)user.
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