California man detained in alleged plot linked to Wisconsin school shooting

Alexander Paffendorf texted shooter Natalie Rupnow in an alleged plan to coordinate an attack on a government building during the shooting, according to a restraining order

A group walks to a site to leave flowers outside the Abundant Life Christian School, scene of a deadly shooting Monday. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A 20-year-old man has been detained by authorities in Carlsbad, California, in connection with the deadly school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin.

According to a gun-violence restaining order issued Tuesday and obtained by CBS 8 in San Diego, FBI agents detained Alexander Paffendorf after discovering that Paffendorf had been texting 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow around the time of the shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, where she opened fire, killing a student and a teacher. She took her own life, and two students are still hospitalized in critical condition.

Paffendorf was allegedly attempting to coordinate an attack at a government building in San Diego during the shooting, according to authorities. The building was not immediately identified.

A resident places flowers at a memorial site near the site of a deadly school shooting Monday in Madison, Wisconsin. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“During an FBI interview, 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,” reads the two-page restraining order, CBS 8 reported.

According to the order, FBI agents “saw the messages from Paffendorf to Rupnow.”

It was not clear from the order how Paffendorf and Rupnow knew each other. Both the Madison police and the FBI declined to comment when contacted by The Independent.

Paffendorf was seized Tuesday night after a San Diego Superior Court Judge issued the restraining order under California’s red flag gun law. The order required Paffendorf to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer demanded them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.

Neighbors told CBS 8 that some 12 police cars descended on the housing complex where Paffendorf lives.

“They had their full guns out all over the street,” neighbor Alex Gallegos told CBS 8. “There were cop cars. I’d say about 15 cops here.”