Wisconsin school shooting latest: Student and teacher killed by Natalie Rupnow named as man detained in California
Erin Michelle West, 42, and Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, have been named as the victims of the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School after Natalie ‘Samantha’ Rupnow opened fire
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A California man has been detained by authorities in connection to the school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, as the student and teacher killed in the attack were named for the first time.
Teacher Erin Michelle West, 42, and Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, were identified on Wednesday evening as the victims of the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday after Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, 15, opened fire.
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.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man identified by CBS 8 in San Diego as Alexander Paffendorf, has been detained by authorities in Carlsbad, California.
FBI agents detained Paffendorf after he told them he had been texting 15-year-old Rupnow around the time of the shooting, according to the report.
Paffendorf allegedly said he was attempting to coordinate an attack at a government building in San Diego during the shooting.
The Madison Police Department referred The Independent to the FBI San Diego when approached for further information.
The FBI declined to comment.
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
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.”
Watch: Hundreds flock to community vigil in wake of Wisconsin school shooting
Women make up resounding minority of school shooters
Natalie Rupnow, 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 database of 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.
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.”
ICYMI: School shooter had ‘turbulent home life,’ court documents show
The 15-year-old Abundant Life Christian School shooter had a “turbulent home life,” according to court documents seen by the Washington Post.
Natalie Rupnow’s parents, Melissa and Jeff Rupnow, reportedly divorced and remarried multiple times. Their daughter enrolled in therapy to guide her through their custody arrangements, according to the newspaper.
The Post reported that the documents point “to an unsettled childhood for Rupnow, whose parents’ custody agreements sometimes forced her to move between their homes every two or three days.”
They reportedly divorced for the first time in 2014 and agreed to joint legal custody of their daughter. It was agreed that she would primarily live with her mother. They remarried in 2017 and divorced for a second time in 2020. They were to divide custody of Natalie evenly, the court records reportedly show.
After they split up for the second time, they briefly remarried again. By April 2021, they were petitioning for a third divorce, The Post reports.
Slain teacher was ‘very kind and caring,’ former student says
A seventh-grader from Abundant Life Christian School described the slain teacher as a “kind and caring” person.
Angel Brube, who was inside the Madison, Wisconsin, school at the time of the shooting, reflecting on Monday’s horror attack.
“It was very unexpected and also very scary,” Brube told CNN. “We were just chilling in class and it just came.”
The schoolchild said he knew one of the two victims, a teacher, who died in the shooting.
“The teacher, yes I did know her. And she was a really good person,” Brube said. He added that he had been taught by her “many times before”.
“She was always very kind and caring and she was always very friendly and communicative,” he added.
When Natalie Rupnow began pulling the trigger of her handgun, Brube said the first gunshots he heard sounded like really loud footsteps or banging.
He said police came into the school carrying “long rifles”.
In pictures: Wisconsin residents reel at Candlelight vigil
What to know about the victims
A student and a teacher were killed during the deadly shooting that occurred at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin.
Police held a follow-up press conference on Tuesday afternoon, but are still yet to officially name the two.
The shooter – previously identified by police as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow – also died during the incident from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Mike Bedigan has outline what we do know about the victims so far:
What to know about the Wisconsin school shooting victims
Police are yet to officially name the two following a second press conference on Tuesday