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
No update from police expected today
A spokesperson from the Madison Police Department confirmed to The Independent that, at this time, there is no police press conference scheduled for Wednesday.
Police plan to hold a press conference any time there is a significant update to share, but there were “no significant updates at this time,” the spokesperson said.
“We will announce if something comes to pass that would warrant an update,” they added.
Neighbors of Wisconsin shooter describe the block’s new sadness
Adam De Wilde was taking out the trash at around 12:30 p.m. Monday when he noticed something unusual.
Some 90 minutes earlier, a student at the Abundant Life Christian School — roughly eight miles away from the tidy 3-bedroom home he and his wife share in Madison, Wisconsin’s Sherman Village section — had fatally gunned down a classmate and a teacher, and wounded six others.
But De Wilde did not yet realize that his neighbor, 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, who would not be identified publicly by police for another several hours, was the person responsible for the unthinkable bloodshed.
“I saw that there were a bunch of cop cars, probably between eight and 12 vehicles, which is not normal for this neighborhood,” De Wilde told The Independent. “... You rarely see a single cop car driving down the street [around here] with its lights on.”
Justin Rohrlich has the exclusive story.
Neighbors of Wisconsin school shooter Natalie Rupnow talk living near killer
Exclusive: “It’s f*****g crazy that that’s where the shooter lived,” Suzy De Wilde told The Independent. “... Every day, I get to look at that front door now.”
Who is the suspected shooter?
Rupnow was encouraged by her father to practice her weapons-handling skills in the months leading up to Monday’s bloodshed, according to a review of his online activity.
In August, Jeff Rupnow - who was unable to be reached on Tuesday - posted a photograph on Facebook of what appears to be his shotgun -wielding daughter shooting clay pigeons at a local gun club.
“Is that kiddo?” a friend commented.
“Sure is!!!!” Rupnow, the father of one, replied. “We joined NBSC this spring and we have been loving all [sic] every second of it!”
In the photo on her father’s Facebook page, Natalie Rupnow is wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo of the venerable German electro-industrial band KMFDM.
The top is similar to ones worn by teenage mass shooter Eric Harris, who in 1999, with classmate Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 15 students at Littleton, Colorado’s Columbine High School.
After the Columbine massacre, the members of KMFDM — which stands for Kein Mehrheit für die Mitleid, which translates to “No Pity for the Majority” — condemned the bloodshed, calling themselves “sick and appalled” by what had happened.
Madison schools targeted by ‘false threats’
Several schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District were targeted by false threats on Tuesday, police said
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters that police are investigating the “false threats often known as swatting”. Police do not believe there are any current threats to schools in the district.
“Making false threats is a crime, and we are working with the district attorney,” he added.
Madison Fire Department adopted active shooter response program before Monday’s attack
Madison Fire Department officials were some of the first people on the scene upon authorities receiving a call of an active shooter at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday.
Fire Chief Dan Williams helped lead the department’s response efforts on Monday and adopted a program called Active Shooting Incident Management before the attack.
Reflecting on a time before the shooting, before adopting the ASIM program, Williams told News 3 Now on Tuesday: “Jheez, this could happen in Madison. How could we be prepared?”
Madison added that he was proud in “seeing everyone integrated, seeing everyone with a task and assignment, and really performing exceptionally.”
Abundant Life Christian School thanks Madison community
The Abundant Life Christian School has given thanks to the local Madison community following a vigil held on Tuesday evening for those killed and injured during the shooting on the school’s grounds.
“Thank you to everyone in the Madison community who came out to support ALCS at the vigil downtown. We are most grateful for all the support!,” the school said on Wednesday morning on Facebook.
“Likewise, we were overwhelmed by the showing of support tonight at City Church’s Mourning Prayer Service. It is humbling to feel so much love and support.”