Wisconsin school shooting latest: Natalie Rupnow ‘received texts’ from man plotting government building attack
Alexander Paffendorf has been detained by the FBI, while teacher Erin Michelle West and student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, have been identified as those killed in the attack
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A California man has been detained and had his guns seized after allegedly texting Wisconsin school shooter Natalie Rupnow about his plans to blow up a government building.
Alexander Paffendorf, 20, was issued a gun-violence restraining order and detained by FBI agents after he was accused of messaging the 15-year-old shooter around the time of her attack on the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday.
The Carlsbad resident allegedly told Rupnow that he “would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” according to a two-page restraining order obtained by CBS 8.
It comes as the teacher and student who lost their lives in the school shooting were identified by police. Six others were left injured, two with life-threatening wounds, and Rupnow died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Erin Michelle West, 42, and Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, were identified on Wednesday evening as the deceased. Vergara 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 released on Wednesday evening.
California man detained in connection with Madison school shooting: Report
Rubi Vergara, 14, named as student gunned down in Wisconsin school shooting
Wisconsin school shooting: What we know about ‘turbulent’ life of 15-year-old killer Natalie Rupnow- Younger, female and Midwestern: How Natalie Rupnow defied the typical descriptions of a school shooter
Only a few school shooters are women
The 15-year-old, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Monday morning, is one of the few female perpetrators of school shootings in recent decades after a teacher and student were gunned down in the attack on the Madison school.
Gunmen commit the overwhelming majority of such attacks and, including the Madison shooting, just nine female students have carried out a school shooting since 1999, according to a Washington Post database.
Data from advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety finds that women constitute less than five percent of assailants across 544 school shooting incidents over the past 11 years.
Of the 197 shooting incidents in the Violence Prevention Project databaseof mass shootings since 1966, 192 of the shooters were male, four were female, and one was transgender. White men made up the majority of perpetrators, according to the database.
Read the full story.
Wisconsin teen Natalie Rupnow joins a rare subset of school shooters: women
Less than five percent of recent school shootings in recent decades were committed by females, data suggests
School will remain closed until after the Christmas break
Charles Moore, the leader of Madison Christian schools, confirmed that the school would remain closed until after the Christmas break.
Moore told the Journal Sentinel at a vigil on Tuesday night that the community was in complete shock.
“It’s hard to comprehend the shock,” Moore said. “There are still some very, very injured children in the hospital. It doesn’t end on the first day, in the first couple of minutes. Lives have been torn apart.”
Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office release further information about deaths
West and Vergara were both pronounced dead at the scene, the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
The office confirmed to The Independent that West and Vergara died due to homicidal firearm-related trauma.
Their deaths remain under investigation by the Madison Police Department and the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office.
BREAKING: Teacher killed in shooting named as Erin Michelle West
The teacher who was killed in the Wisconsin school shooting has been named as Erin Michelle West, the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to The Independent on Wednesday night.
Vergara’s aunt pays tribute to teen victim
Rubi Vergara’s aunt, Stacy Remus, paid tribute to the student on Facebook.
“Friends and family... here it is. This is our beautiful Rubi Vergara, our niece who was killed in Monday’s school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison,” Remus wrote.
“We are grateful for our friends, family and Bluff View Church family for your support during this hard time. And by the way .... Jesus is Still on the Throne and God is Good. Rubi, there are very few words to express how our hearts are broken, we love you and miss you.”
The student’s funeral will take place this Saturday, according to the obituary.
Pictured: Student who was killed named as Rubi Vergara
BREAKING: Student who was killed in shooting named
The student who was killed in the school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, has been identified as Rubi Patricia Vergara.
An obituary released on Wednesday named the 14-year-old as one of the victims of the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
The name of the teacher who also died has not been released.
Vergara 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.
In photos: Vigils held for Abundant Life Christian School shooting victims
WATCH: Wisconsin Police Department offer condolences to victim's families after school shooting
Police and ATF look into history of handgun used in attack
Investigators are working alongside the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track down the origin of the weapon believed to have been used by school shooter, Natalie Rupnow.
Police have said the 15-year-old shooter used a handgun to carry out the attack. Its history is now being traced by the ATF, Madison Police Department Chief Shon Barnes told CNN on Tuesday.
It is not yet clear who the gun belonged to or where it originated.
“We have asked our partners with the ATF to expedite what’s called an ATF trace form to try and determine the origin of that weapon, who purchased it and how it got from a manufacturer all the way to the hands of a 15-year-old girl,” he said.
“These are questions that are going to take some time to answer.”