Latest news with #Rupnow
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Bail for Wisconsin school shooter's father facing 3 felonies set at $20K
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The father of a 15-year-old girl who killed a fellow student and a teacher at a private school in Wisconsin had his bail set at $20,000 on Friday at his first court appearance on charges that he allowed her access to guns. Prosecutors charged Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, on Thursday with two felony counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor causing death and one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a child. Rupnow would face up to 18 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Jeffrey Rupnow's daughter, Natalie Rupnow, opened fire at her school, Abundant Life Christian School, in Madison in December. She killed teacher Erin Michelle West and 14-year-old student Rubi Bergara and injured six others before she killed herself. Jeffrey Rupnow's attorney, Bruce Davey, said in court that his client would not be able to post $20,000 in bail, saying 'he's not a wealthy man.' Davey noted that he has no prior criminal history, cooperated with the investigation, has lived in the area his whole life and needs to work at his job to pay his bills and keep his house. 'There's no reason to hold him in jail," Davey said. Davey asked for him to be released on a signature bond, which requires the posting of no money. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne had asked for $100,000, noting the seriousness of the shooting and the pending charges. He mentioned that a victim from the shooting was in the courtroom. He did not name the victim. The proceedings were held in a jail courtroom and viewable only via a Zoom teleconference. The victim was not visible on camera. 'This is unprecedented and we do have two deceased," Ozanne said. "We have multiple gunshot victims. It's the defendants actions, inactions, that contributed to this incident.' Court Commissioner Scott McAndrew said he did not want to set a cash bail so high that Rupnow could not pay it but wasn't comfortable with a signature bond given the seriousness of the offenses. He ordered that if Rupnow posts $20,000 and is released, he will be fitted with a GPS monitoring device, not be allowed to have contact with anyone at Abundant Life Christian School, purchase or possess firearms or go to the block where the school is located. He said the cash amount could be reviewed later and set a status hearing for June 9. McAndrew did not allow reporters into the courtroom, telling them through bailiffs that they could watch the proceeding on Zoom. Asked outside the courtroom after the proceeding had ended whether the cash bail was high enough, Ozanne said the commissioner made his decision and his office will move forward. He then stepped into an elevator and left. Davey told reporters he did not think the bail amount was fair. Rupnow has been free since the shooting and has not caused any problems, he said. Rupnow's mother was also turned away at the courtroom door and had to listen to the Zoom teleconference by holding her cellphone next to her ear in the lobby. She declined to comment on the case. According to a criminal complaint, Jeffrey Rupnow told investigators his daughter was struggling to cope with her parents' divorce in 2022. He bought the two handguns she brought into the school for her as a way to bond with her, he told investigators. He added that he told her the access code to the safe where he stored her guns in case she ever needed them, the complaint said. Rupnow also told investigators he wasn't sure whether he put one of the guns back in the safe after his daughter cleaned it the day before the school attack. Investigators found writings in Natalie Rupnow's room saying she hated people who smoked marijuana and drank as much as they can like her father. She also wrote that her mother wasn't in her life, that she admired a number of school shooters and that she obtained her guns 'by lies, manipulation, and my fathers stupidity.' Jeffrey Rupnow sent a message to police in the days after the shooting saying the biggest mistake he made was teaching his daughter how to handle guns safely. He urged police to warn people to change their gun safe combinations every two to three months because 'kids are smart and they will figure it out.' Rupnow is the latest in a line of parents of school shooters who have been held criminally liable for their children's actions in recent years. ___ Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Father Of Girl Who Killed 2 At Wisconsin School Is Charged With Supplying Guns
The father of a 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and fellow student at her Wisconsin Christian school last December has been arrested and charged with several felonies related to the deadly attack, police said. Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, was arrested Thursday and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a child and two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 resulting in death, the Madison Police Department announced. Rupnow's daughter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following the Dec. 16 shooting, had 'regular access' to firearms and a 'fascination with weapons and school shootings,' which was made evident through personal items recovered at her home, said Madison Police Chief John Patterson. These items included a self-written manifesto titled 'War Against Humanity,' as well as drawings and videos 'all detailing interest to mass violence,' Patterson said at a press conference. A cardboard model and hand-drawn floor plans of Abundant Life Christian School, where the shooting took place, were also recovered at the home she shared with her father, according to a criminal complaint obtained by local station WMTV. 'The items recovered were disturbing, alarming, and they would have led any average person to the [concern] of violence,' Patterson said. The elder Rupnow told detectives that he had three rifles and nine pistols inside a gun safe in his home, all of which he had purchased. He stored an additional gun under his bed, which he said he planned to give his daughter for Christmas, according to the complaint. 'There was a gun safe in the home. Based on our investigation, it did not stop the teen from having regular access to the firearms,' Patterson said. 'I got the weapons by lies and manipulation, and my fathers stupidity,' the teen wrote in documents recovered from her home, according to the complaint. Rupnow, who did not have an attorney listed as representing him, has his first court appearance scheduled for Friday.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Father of Wisconsin school shooter arrested, charged
The father of a teenage girl who killed a student and teacher at a Christian school in Madison, Wis., in December has been arrested and criminally charged. Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, was charged with two felony counts of intent to sell a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 and one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a child. Rupnow's daughter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, opened fire on Dec. 16, 2024, at Abundant Life Christian School, killing a teacher and a 14-year-old student before killing herself. Six others were injured in the shooting. According to a criminal complaint, Rupnow told police he had given his daughter two handguns as gifts and gave her the access code to his firearm safe. He also said the teenager became interested in guns after he took her shooting on a friend's land. Rupnow is the latest parent of a school shooter to face charges associated with an attack. Last year, the parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in their role in the attack that killed four students and injured seven others in 2021. All charges against Rupnow are punishable by up to six years in prison each. He is scheduled for a court appearance on Friday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
09-05-2025
- The Hill
Father of Wisconsin school shooter arrested, charged
The father of a teenage girl who killed a student and teacher at a Christian school in Madison, Wis., in December has been arrested and criminally charged. Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, was charged with two felony counts of intent to sell a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 and one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a child. Rupnow's daughter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, opened fire on Dec. 16, 2024, at Abundant Life Christian School, killing a teacher and a 14-year-old student before killing herself. Six others were injured in the shooting. According to a criminal complaint, Rupnow told police he had given his daughter two handguns as gifts and gave her the access code to his firearm safe. He also said the teenager became interested in guns after he took her shooting on a friend's land. Rupnow is the latest parent of a school shooter to face charges associated with an attack. Last year, the parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in their role in the attack that killed four students and injured seven others in 2021. All charges against Rupnow are punishable by up to six years in prison each. He is scheduled for a court appearance on Friday.
International Business Times
09-05-2025
- International Business Times
Who Is Jeffrey Rupnow? Wisconsin School Shooter Natalie Rupnow's Father Arrested for Providing Guns to Daughter Used in Mass Shooting
The father of Wisconsin school shooter Natalie Rupnow was arrested after it was revealed that he had used semiautomatic firearms as a way to 'bond with his daughter. Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, the father of Natalie Rupnow, 15, who carried out the mass shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, was arrested during an early morning traffic stop. Rupnow was charged with intentionally giving a deadly weapon to a minor resulting in death, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a child. According to prosecutors, Rupnow legally purchased a pistol for his daughter and stored it in a gun safe and told Natalie that if she ever needed to use it. Father's Biggest Blunder Rupnow told Natalie that she could unlock the safe by using his Social Security number typed in reverse. "Her father knew that she had them, or at least had access to them," acting Madison Police Chief John Patterson said at a press conference, as disturbing new details emerged from the criminal complaint filed against Jeffrey Rupnow in connection with the December 16 shooting. The complaint reveals that just a day after the deadly incident, Jeffrey told authorities he had taken his daughter's handgun out of the safe to clean it two days before the shooting—and wasn't sure if he had ever put it back in the safe. That firearm, along with another weapon, was used in the deadly attack that killed a teacher, Erin West, 42, and 14-year-old freshman Rubi Vergara, and left six others wounded. One of the wounded victims is still hospitalized, according to CBS News. Jeffrey also allegedly told police that Natalie must have taken the second gun from the safe as well, according to the criminal complaint obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "When they initially started the interview with the defendant, one of the first things he uttered was that he... began to think about if he had put [her] gun back in the safe yesterday," it says. Disturbing Details about Shooter's Life The criminal complaint also gives an insight into Natalie's life leading up to the tragic school shooting and her subsequent suicide. It describes how the 15-year-old struggled emotionally after her parents' divorce in 2022—a trauma she railed in a disturbing piece of writing titled War Against Humanity, in which she referred to humanity as "filth" and described the world around her as a "population of scum." Natalie went on to write how she hated those who don't care and "smoke their lungs out with weed or drink as much as they can like my own father." She appeared to feel isolated and believed society had pushed her into despair. At one point in the document, she even wrote, "Some of you guys deserve to be dead," after using a racial slur. After her parents' bitter divorce, Natalie was living with her father and was receiving therapy for the PTSD it had caused, according to the complaint. Jeffrey had reportedly noticed his daughter was struggling as she hated herself and wanted to take her own life. At one point, her self-harm became so severe that he had to lock away all the kitchen knives. Despite these warning signs, he tried to bond with her through their mutual interest in guns. He told investigators that about two years before the Abundant Life shooting, he had taken Natalie to a friend's property to practice shooting. She appeared to enjoy the experience, and he began to view firearms as a way to connect with her. However, he later admitted he was shocked by how fast her fascination with weapons had "snowballed." Authorities say Natalie began making a cardboard replica of her school and meticulously planning the shooting to end with her suicide. She allegedly planned to start the attack at 11:30 a.m., so that she could sweep through both the first and second floors of the school by 11:55 a.m. Her plan was to end it all by 12:10 p.m., leaving a chilling message that read "ready 4 Death." She went on to share her obsession with school shootings and firearms with others online, even posting videos of herself handling what looked like a black semiautomatic weapon. Natalie ultimately went on the rampage inside a study hall at Abundant Life Christian School just before 11 a.m. on December 16, before taking her own life. Jeffrey is set to make his first court appearance on Friday, though it is still unclear if he has hired a lawyer to represent him or speak on his behalf.
