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.
