The teenage girl who allegedly murdered a classmate and teacher at a private Christian school had a tumultuous family life, NBC News reported on Saturday.
On Monday 15-year-old Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow shot and killed student Rubi Vergara, 14, and teacher Erin West, 42 at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. Six others were wounded, including two sustaining life-threatening injuries and remain hospitalized. The four other injured have been released. Rupnow died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, according to police.
Court documents obtained by the outlet show Rupnow lived a life marked by divorces, custody battles and a series of court-mandated mediation sessions to resolve disputes over her care. Her parents, Jeff and Mellisa Rupnow married in 2011 and divorced for the first time in 2014 when the couple agreed to joint custody of Natalie despite her spending the majority of her time with her mother.
They remarried in 2017, according to their marriage certificate, but filed for divorce a second time in 2020. Mellissa and Jeff Rupnow again agreed to share custody of Natalie, but this time she would spend “equal time with both parents,” the court documents show. A divorce certificate obtained by the outlet shows their divorce was finalized in 2021.
Madison police chief Shon Barnes said the parents are “fully cooperating” with their investigation as they search for a motive. “Identifying a motive is our top priority. But at this time, it appears that the motive was a combination of factors,” Barnes said at a news conference.
The Director of Wisconsin’s Office of School Safety, Trish Kilpin, told NBC News that “targeted violence is preventable,” adding “When somebody decides to use violence, it’s often to redress an upset or a grievance, and they progress down a pathway towards that violence.”
On Wednesday, the FBI detained Alexander Paffendorf, of Carlsbad, California, on suspicion of "plotting" to coordinate a mass shooting at a government building in conjunction with Rupnow. 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, according to emergency gun violence restraining order first obtained by CBS 8 out of Madison.