School shooter's father facing felony charges in Wisconsin
According to a criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press, 42-year-old Jeffrey Rupnow has been charged with two felony counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 that caused death and contributed to the delinquency of a child. The charges come after Rupnow's 15-year-old daughter, Natalie Rupnow, committed a mass shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in December.
According to The Associated Press, Rubi Bergara, a 14-year-old student, and Erin Michelle West, a teacher at Abundant Life Christian School, were killed in December's mass shooting, while six others were injured prior to Natalie Rupnow ending her own life.
The Associated Press reported that Jeffrey Rupnow was arrested on Thursday and booked at the Dane County Jail.
In the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press, the 42-year-old father explained how his daughter struggled with her parents' divorce and expressed her anger in a manifesto titled 'War Against Humanity.' The criminal complaint noted that Jeffrey Rupnow attempted to bond with Natalie Rupnow through guns.
READ MORE: Video: School shooter arrested; 5 hospitalized in Texas
According to The Associated Press, investigators discovered a 9 mm Glock handgun that Jeffrey Rupnow had purchased for the 15-year-old, as well as a .22-caliber Sig Sauer pistol, at the scene of the shooting. The complaint indicated that Jeffrey Rupnow had given the Sig Sauer pistol to his daughter as a Christmas gift in 2023.
Jeffrey Rupnow told investigators that he took his daughter shooting roughly two years prior to the school shooting. After discovering that his daughter enjoyed shooting, he attempted to use guns to connect with her; however, he told investigators that he was surprised how her interest in guns 'snow balled.'
According to the criminal complaint, Jeffrey Rupnow kept his daughter's pistols in a gun safe and gave his daughter the access code. The 42-year-old reportedly texted a friend prior to the school shooting that his daughter would shoot him if he left 'the fun safe open right now.'
The Associated Press reported that the criminal complaint showed Rupnow had removed the Sig Sauer pistol from the gun safe to clean it just one day before the school shooting and that he became distracted and was not sure if he put the gun back in the safe or if he locked the safe.
According to The Associated Press, in Natalie Rupnow's 'War Against Humanity' manifesto, the 15-year-old described humans as 'filth,' expressed her admiration for school shooters, and revealed that her firearms had been obtained 'by lies and manipulation, and my fathers stupidity.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump orders seven-day crackdown in Washington DC citing ‘violent crime'
Donald Trump has ordered federal officers to start sweeping the streets of Washington DC, launching what the White House is calling a seven-day crackdown on violent crime just one day after threatening to 'federalize' the city. The mobilization, which began on Thursday night, follows an attempted carjacking that left well-known Trump administration figure Edward 'Big Balls' Coristine bloodied and injured. 'Washington DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,' the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement. 'President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in DC.' The deployments come despite crime statistics showing violent crime in Washington hit a 30-year low in 2024, according to city police data. Crime has continued to decline in the first half of 2025 compared with the previous year. The operation will focus on 'high traffic tourist areas', Leavitt said, and involves multiple federal agencies working alongside local police forces under Trump's March executive order 'Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force'. All federal officers are clearly identified in marked vehicles and maintain high visibility, according to the White House statement. The announcement follows Trump's social media threat to take federal control of Washington DC if local authorities failed to address crime. In a Truth Social post, the president called for minors as young as 14 to be prosecuted as adults and declared: 'If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City.' Related: Trump threatens to 'federalize' DC after attack on Doge staffer Federal officers from the US park police will lead the effort, supported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's homeland security investigations unit and enforcement and removal operations divisions. The Metropolitan police department, US Capitol police and Metro transit police are also participating. On the first night after the White House announcement, federal agent deployment across the city was reportedly minimal. The Associated Press conducted a two-hour street tour starting at 1am and found little evidence of the promised surge. Just before 2am on Friday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives posted on social media that federal law enforcement partners were 'out ensuring that the residents of the District of Columbia are safer this evening' while appearing to be near the Petworth metro station in north-west Washington DC. They tagged US park police, the US Marshals Service and local Ice and FBI offices. The Washington Legal Clinic raised concerns about the operation's scope, warning on social media that Trump was planning '7 nights of action, rounding up homeless people and attempting civil commitment or arrests for as many as possible'. The organization noted there was currently no available shelter space. The White House, in their statement, said the seven-day operation could be extended 'as needed'.
a day ago
Ethiopian migrants face kidnappings and death, leaving behind heartbroken families
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- When 19-year-old Nigus Yosef told his parents he was going to leave home in Ethiopia's Tigray region and try to get to Saudi Arabia, they begged him not to go. Two of their children had already made the crossing, via the Gulf of Aden and then war-torn Yemen. Yosef's brother is now in jail in Yemen for entering that country illegally. His sister made it to Saudi Arabia, also illegally, which means it will be difficult for her to leave. On August 3, 2025, Yosef and five friends from his town of Adi Qeyih boarded a boat bound for Yemen. That night, it capsized. Only 56 people of the nearly 200 people on board survived. Yosef was not one of them. 'His parents are in deep shock and grief,' his uncle, Redae Barhe, said in a telephone interview. 'They can't even voice their sorrow.' Nigus Yosef is one of 132 missing from the boat that capsized this month; one of countless people from African countries gone missing on a journey in search of a new life. The families they leave behind know that there are high odds of misfortune. Boats are often overcrowded, unable to withstand rough seas. Once on dry land, there are other dangers. Migrants are vulnerable, with few resources or protection, making them easy prey for human traffickers and kidnappers. Senait Tadesse says that her 27-year-old daughter made it to Yemen, only to be held captive by kidnappers who communicated with Tadesse through Facebook, demanding a US$ 6,000 ransom to release her only child. Tadesse said in an interview with The Associated Press in the capital, Addis Ababa, that she sold her car and all her jewelry to raise the cash and deposited the money in an Ethiopian bank account. But the kidnappers demanded more. She sold all her belongings; they still wanted more. Not knowing what else to do, she went to the police, armed with the local bank account number that the kidnappers had been using. Meanwhile, she was on Facebook, trying to get news of her daughter. Eventually, a post from a survivor confirmed that Tadesse's daughter had been killed. To date, no arrests have been made. Although Ethiopia has been relatively stable since the war in the country's Tigray region ended in 2022, youth unemployment is high and there are still pockets of unrest. 'Many young people no longer see a future for themselves within a nation that does not prioritize their needs,' explained Yared Hailemariam, an Ethiopian human rights advocate based in Addis Ababa. 'The cause of this migration is lack of economic opportunities and growing conflicts. Young people are faced with a choice of either taking up arms to fight in endless conflicts, or providing for their families.' The war in Tigray was the reason why Nigus Yosef never finished school. When the conflict started in 2020, he was in 7th Grade, and he dropped out to join the Tigray armed forces. When the ceasefire was signed in 2022, he came back home, but couldn't find a job. After three years, he was desperate. Residents in the region say that traffickers seize on that desperation, and that their networks extend even into remote areas and rural villages. Eden Shumiye was just 13 when she left Adi Qeyih with Yosef and his friends. Her parents say that she was preyed on by people smugglers during the town's public market day, and that they convinced her to leave with the group. Her parents heard nothing from her until one of the other migrants called them when they reached Wuha Limat, near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. The news left them sick with worry. After the boat capsized, a relative of one of the survivors managed to send a voice message to them from Saudi Arabia via the messaging app Imo, confirming that Eden's dead body had been recovered. Of the six young people who left Adi Qeyih, only two survived. 'Her mother is heartbroken,' Eden's father, Shumiye Hadush, told The Associated Press. 'The pain is truly overwhelming.' In response to the recent tragedy, the Ethiopian government issued a statement warning citizens 'not to take the illegal route,' and to 'avoid the services of traffickers at all cost,' while urging people to 'pursue legal avenues for securing opportunities.' But Girmachew Adugna, a migration scholar specializing in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, points out that legal migration channels are slow and time-consuming. 'Passports are hard to obtain due to rising costs,' he says. 'Young people often have little or no access to legal migration pathways, which leads them to migrate through irregular means.' More than 1.1 million Ethiopians were classified as migrants who left their home country and were living abroad in 2024, up from about 200,000 recorded in 2010, according to United Nations figures. In spite of Yemen's civil war, the number of migrants arriving there has tripled from 27,000 in 2021 to 90,000 last year, the U.N. International Organization for Migration, or IOM, said last month. To reach Yemen, migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden. The IOM said at least 1,860 people have died or disappeared along the route, including 480 who drowned. 'Our youth are dying because of this dangerous migration,' says Eden Shumiye's father Hadush. 'They fall victim to the cruelty of traffickers. When will this tragedy come to an end?' ___
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Ethiopian migrants face kidnappings and death, leaving behind heartbroken families
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — When 19-year-old Nigus Yosef told his parents he was going to leave home in Ethiopia's Tigray region and try to get to Saudi Arabia, they begged him not to go. Two of their children had already made the crossing, via the Gulf of Aden and then war-torn Yemen. Yosef's brother is now in jail in Yemen for entering that country illegally. His sister made it to Saudi Arabia, also illegally, which means it will be difficult for her to leave. On August 3, 2025, Yosef and five friends from his town of Adi Qeyih boarded a boat bound for Yemen. That night, it capsized. Only 56 people of the nearly 200 people on board survived. Yosef was not one of them. 'His parents are in deep shock and grief,' his uncle, Redae Barhe, said in a telephone interview. 'They can't even voice their sorrow.' Nigus Yosef is one of 132 missing from the boat that capsized this month; one of countless people from African countries gone missing on a journey in search of a new life. Journeys fraught with danger The families they leave behind know that there are high odds of misfortune. Boats are often overcrowded, unable to withstand rough seas. Once on dry land, there are other dangers. Migrants are vulnerable, with few resources or protection, making them easy prey for human traffickers and kidnappers. Senait Tadesse says that her 27-year-old daughter made it to Yemen, only to be held captive by kidnappers who communicated with Tadesse through Facebook, demanding a US$ 6,000 ransom to release her only child. Tadesse said in an interview with The Associated Press in the capital, Addis Ababa, that she sold her car and all her jewelry to raise the cash and deposited the money in an Ethiopian bank account. But the kidnappers demanded more. She sold all her belongings; they still wanted more. Not knowing what else to do, she went to the police, armed with the local bank account number that the kidnappers had been using. Meanwhile, she was on Facebook, trying to get news of her daughter. Eventually, a post from a survivor confirmed that Tadesse's daughter had been killed. To date, no arrests have been made. Driven by desperation Although Ethiopia has been relatively stable since the war in the country's Tigray region ended in 2022, youth unemployment is high and there are still pockets of unrest. 'Many young people no longer see a future for themselves within a nation that does not prioritize their needs,' explained Yared Hailemariam, an Ethiopian human rights advocate based in Addis Ababa. 'The cause of this migration is lack of economic opportunities and growing conflicts. Young people are faced with a choice of either taking up arms to fight in endless conflicts, or providing for their families.' The war in Tigray was the reason why Nigus Yosef never finished school. When the conflict started in 2020, he was in 7th Grade, and he dropped out to join the Tigray armed forces. When the ceasefire was signed in 2022, he came back home, but couldn't find a job. After three years, he was desperate. Residents in the region say that traffickers seize on that desperation, and that their networks extend even into remote areas and rural villages. Eden Shumiye was just 13 when she left Adi Qeyih with Yosef and his friends. Her parents say that she was preyed on by people smugglers during the town's public market day, and that they convinced her to leave with the group. Her parents heard nothing from her until one of the other migrants called them when they reached Wuha Limat, near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. The news left them sick with worry. After the boat capsized, a relative of one of the survivors managed to send a voice message to them from Saudi Arabia via the messaging app Imo, confirming that Eden's dead body had been recovered. Of the six young people who left Adi Qeyih, only two survived. 'Her mother is heartbroken,' Eden's father, Shumiye Hadush, told The Associated Press. 'The pain is truly overwhelming.' Ethiopia issues a warning In response to the recent tragedy, the Ethiopian government issued a statement warning citizens 'not to take the illegal route,' and to 'avoid the services of traffickers at all cost,' while urging people to 'pursue legal avenues for securing opportunities.' But Girmachew Adugna, a migration scholar specializing in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, points out that legal migration channels are slow and time-consuming. 'Passports are hard to obtain due to rising costs,' he says. 'Young people often have little or no access to legal migration pathways, which leads them to migrate through irregular means.' More than 1.1 million Ethiopians were classified as migrants who left their home country and were living abroad in 2024, up from about 200,000 recorded in 2010, according to United Nations figures. In spite of Yemen's civil war, the number of migrants arriving there has tripled from 27,000 in 2021 to 90,000 last year, the U.N. International Organization for Migration, or IOM, said last month. To reach Yemen, migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden. The IOM said at least 1,860 people have died or disappeared along the route, including 480 who drowned. 'Our youth are dying because of this dangerous migration,' says Eden Shumiye's father Hadush. 'They fall victim to the cruelty of traffickers. When will this tragedy come to an end?' ___ Associated Press writer Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report. ___ For more on Africa and development: The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at Amanuel Gebremedhin Birhane And Samuel Getachew, The Associated Press
