WI - Madison, school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School 16 Dec 2024

[airportwoman]

Natalie Rupnow who goes by the name Samantha.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1868848257545220327

I'm hearing that she was 17, and "Samantha" may not necessarily be an alias. Maybe her given name is Natalie Samantha or Samantha Natalie?

The X post that was supposedly a picture of her has been taken down.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Wait, what?

Three people died in the shooting, including Rupnow, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound while being transported to a local hospital.

Identity of Madison school shooter revealed: 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow

The shooter who opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison has been identified as Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow, a 15-year-old student.

www.wisn.com

 

[daybreaking]

Wait, what?

Three people died in the shooting, including Rupnow, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound while being transported to a local hospital.

Quoting the video, "She was pronounced deceased while in transport to a local hospital". I don't think they intended to say that she shot herself in the ambulance - they just worded it oddly.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Quoting the video, "She was pronounced deceased while in transport to a local hospital". I don't think they intended to say that she shot herself in the ambulance - they just worded it oddly.

Oh, thanks for clearing that up. That makes sense and that was poor wording.

 

[MassGuy]

Is the Tumblr account vetted yet?

To validate it's the same person - there's a full name match of that user ID with both a CashApp and BandLab account, a first name and location match with a PoshMark account, and on the Tumblr account makes a post mentioning her birthday, (also a match).

It's not, but I have a high level of confidence that pretty much everything we've seen circulating is real. I imagine by tomorrow we should have some confirmation.

 

[Warwick7]

Let's get all the information we can before judging the parents.

Agreed!

 

[Breezie]

<modsnip re-posting address not allowed>

Wisconsin police suggest new motive behind Natalie Rupnow shooting

Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow, 15, killed a student, a teacher, and then herself at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shortly before 11am on Monday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A large police presence was seen at what's believed to be the home of the Abundant Life Christian School shooter's home.
Both WMTV and WISN noted SWAT teams and other investigators outside a house on Delaware Boulevard in Madison.
The shooter's name, age and gender remain unknown beyond reports by CNN that she was a 15-year-old girl. Police do not yet have a motive but Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said the shooter opened fire that it was 'in a learning part of the school.'
Barnes said the shooter's family is cooperating with police.

 

[katydid23]

This is so tragic. Are we going to find out that everyone knew she was troubled but no one knew what to do?

 

[Arkay]

<mudsnip: quoted post was removed>

I do notice every MSM outlet reports that LE is talking to her father. I don’t see any mention of her mom, so I infer she’s not in the picture.

IMO this is going to turn out to be a very disturbed child.

We can’t just keep clutching our hearts and wondering how this keeps happening.

We need tangible change. Congress or some entity that could put teeth into our laws.

Just my opinion.

 

[nightowl1975]

“Officers located a juvenile who they believe was responsible for this deceased in the building,” he said.

“We believe the shooter was a student at the school, yes,” the chief later confirmed when asked.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/abundant-life-christian-school-shooting-madison-12-16-24/index.html

man I hate to read that we've had yet another school shooting. This was never something we or our parents thought about when I was a child. It just wasn't a worry back in the 60s and 70s. In many ways I think it is harder to be a kid nowadays. screen time, social media, threats like school shootings. Praying for all involved.

Even in the early to mid-90’s, we had row after row of unlocked vehicles with gun racks full of hunting rifles in our school parking lot. It never crossed my mind to worry about someone shooting students at school. Times are…. different, now, and not in a good way. I don’t know that there’s a way to put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak. Social media and 24/7 news access has fundamentally changed us as humans.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

This is so tragic. Are we going to find out that everyone knew she was troubled but no one knew what to do?

Perhaps she was sent to a Christian school because she was "troubled". A form of exorcism, as it were.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

Is her mom in the picture or did her dad have full custody?

 

[nightowl1975]

I think maybe they should withhold the shooter’s name. Give them no public coverage. Maybe that would deter the next could-be shooter. Nothing in it for them, not even infamy.

I actually think this would deter further shootings more than anything else in the immediate future. I don’t think it’ll ever happen, as we are a society of “needing” to know all the things, all the time. But there’s something that fundamentally changed when news went from a 30 minute time slot a few times a day and a daily newspaper to a 24/7 thing we carry around on our person at all times.

 

[Tabulator]

Can I just say... I HATE THIS! Every time I see a report about a school shooting, it makes me physically ill.

As a teacher, I want to believe that I could tell if one of my students resorted to a school shooting - but the truth is, I am kidding myself. I have met a handful of students that I might have suspicions about, but actually bringing a firearm to school? No... And, unfortunately, it's just not that simple. What I do know, though, is something has to be done - for students who become shooters to truly feel that killing classmates and teachers is a solution to their problemsi s mind-boggling and it guts me. I just want some answers so we can stop this school shooting epidemic. Like RIGHT NOW.

 

[mommabee]

More than likely that the shooter uses a different name than their "given" name. Which today means something other than 'I don’t like that name.'

My mother, Aunt, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother all went by names that were not their birth names. They were called, middle names or nicknames, depending.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I actually think this would deter further shootings more than anything else in the immediate future. I don’t think it’ll ever happen, as we are a society of “needing” to know all the things, all the time. But there’s something that fundamentally changed when news went from a 30 minute time slot a few times a day and a daily newspaper to a 24/7 thing we carry around on our person at all times.

Not releasing the name of the shooter would, I think, require a higher level of trust in the authorities than probably exists in the US at present. There would be immediate claims of a cover up, that the shooter was the child of the mayor/police chief/local hot-shot lawyer or whatever.

 

[airportwoman]

More than likely that the shooter uses a different name than their "given" name. Which today means something other than 'I don’t like that name.'

My mother, Aunt, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother all went by names that were not their birth names. They were called, middle names or nicknames, depending.

Like I said earlier, she might also have had the given name Natalie Samantha, or Samantha Natalie. I'm fond of unconventional middle names, so if that's the case, I would get it.

 

[Sillybilly]

Stop sleuthing this family. It is against the very basic rules of Websleuths.

 

[INfisherman]

I think maybe they should withhold the shooter’s name. Give them no public coverage. Maybe that would deter the next could-be shooter. Nothing in it for them, not even infamy.

I actually think this would deter further shootings more than anything else in the immediate future. I don’t think it’ll ever happen, as we are a society of “needing” to know all the things, all the time. But there’s something that fundamentally changed when news went from a 30 minute time slot a few times a day and a daily newspaper to a 24/7 thing we carry around on our person at all times.

I completely agree with both of the above, however, regardless if LE withholds shooter names, more than likely someone will reveal it via social media, whether the name is of the actual shooter or not.

I tend to feel that public mass shootings became a thing when MSM started dissecting shootings for days & weeks at a time on a daily basis on both TV & in print.

My dad, a Vietnam vet (corpsman/medic), used to carry during the 80s only due to the fact he made a nightly drop at a bank’s night deposit box when he used to own a local grocery store. He stopped carrying after he sold the grocery store & didn’t carry for over 20 years. Then terrorism & mass shootings began to gain popularity & he’s been carrying for 10-15 years (getting close to 80).

JMO

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I completely agree with both of the above, however, regardless if LE withholds shooter names, more than likely someone will reveal it via social media, whether the name is of the actual shooter or not.

From another point of view, the shooter being officially named means that other persons don't get caught up in speculation as to whether they are the individual involved.