The teenage girl who carried out a school shooting in Wisconsin had been in contact with a man in California who, according to authorities and court documents, told law enforcement officers he was plotting an attack on a government building.
A California judge issued a restraining order on Dec. 16 under the state’s red flag gun law against a 20-year-old man living in Carlsbad, San Diego County. The order requires him to surrender his guns and ammunition to the police within 48 hours, or sooner if requested by an officer, as he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
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 FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
Rupnow went to school on Monday morning and fired shots inside, according to authorities. Police officers were dispatched to the scene shortly before 11 a.m.
Two people were fatally shot, and six people were injured, including two who suffered life-threatening injuries.
Rupnow died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
Wisconsin police officials said on Wednesday that Rupnow took two guns to the private school and that they were still trying to figure out what motivated the shooting.
“I do not know if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
Barnes told reporters on Tuesday that “identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive was a combination of factors.”
He said that investigators would not share further details for now because they do not want to jeopardize the ongoing investigation, which includes looking at a purported manifesto and information on computers from Rupnow’s home.
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 probe.
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 indicate why.
Jeffrey Rupnow has not responded to a request for comment. Mellissa Rupnow could not be reached.
