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.
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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.
