Police
have identified the 15-year-old girl who opened fire at her
Wisconsin private school as Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow.
Rupnow killed a student, a teacher, and then herself at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shortly before 11am on Monday.
An alleged manifesto has been circulating on social media. Police said they have not confirmed the document's validity.
Mourners provide details of Abundant Life Christian School shooter as identities of victims remain under raps
The identity of Abundant Life Christian School shooter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow has been unveiled and some details about her social media history are public but little is known about the victims as of Tuesday night.
Rupnow opened fire on kids and staff at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday - raining bullets in the study hall and killing two before turning the gun on herself.
Accounts being linked to Rupnow online show an obsession with possible white supremacist ideologies and infamous past school shooters, as well as a chilling message from the 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski.
Screenshots posted of her alleged manifesto have shown Rupnow to be a lonely child who said she was 'trapped and forced into my corner.'
Rupnow expressed unhappiness at what she described as a broken home and made multiple references to a therapist.
Police maintain they will not release names of the victims until all families have been informed.
Natalie Rupnow's motive remains unclear, but police believe bullying may have been a 'factor'
Officials said they are looking to a 'combination of factors' to explain why teen killer Natalie Rupnow opened fire on her school on Monday.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said that although he could not comment on a specific trigger, it is believed that bullying may have been a factor.
Wisconsin Christian school shooter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow is pictured
Wisconsin Christian school shooter Natalie Samantha Rupnow has been pictured after she killed a fellow student and a teacher in Madison.
The 15-year-old, who killed herself after unleashing the massacre at a study hall at Abundant Life Christian School, also injured six others including two students who were in critical condition.
A substitute teacher and three students had been taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them had been released by Monday evening.
Rupnow's father Jeff Rupnow shared several images of his daughter throughout the years - all the way back to her birth in 2009.
The father is cooperating with police as they try to find a motive for the tragedy.
Court records show Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow's parents divorced and remarried multiple times
Wisconsin school shooter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow's parents had been married and divorced multiple times each.
It was previously revealed that the 15-year-old - who murdered a teacher and a student at Abundant Life Christian School before taking her own life - was a child of divorce.
However, records obtained by Newsweek and the Washington Post show that Jeffrey and Melissa Rupnow made attempts to reconcile after their divorce, got married again and divorced again.
The pair were initially divorced in 2014 but remarried in 2017. They ultimately divorced once again in 2021.
Sharing custody of their daughter was also complicated, as after their first divorce they had shared custody but the child primarily lived with the mother.
After their second divorce, they agreed again to shared placement of their daughter.
However, the pair filed a mediated agreement granting the father primary placement but agreed to work toward equal placement.
Women and girls account for only 3% of school and mass shootings
Police in Wisconsin on Tuesday were interviewing friends and family and examining the online presence of a 15-year-old girl to determine what drove her to open fire in a classroom at her private Christian school, killing a fellow student and a teacher before taking her own life.
The shooter, identified by police as Natalie Rupnow, who also went by Samantha, was a student at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital.
In one key way, the Madison attack is an outlier among U.S. school and mass shootings: Women and girls are far less likely to carry them out than male attackers. Only about 3% of all U.S. mass shootings are perpetrated by females, studies show.
Abundant Life Christian School parent talks about awful wait to be reunited with children
A parent of two students at Abundant Life Christian School talked about the horrible wait to be reunited with her children and what they knew of the shooter.
Lyndsay O'Connor - who graduated from the school herself - said she only originally heard of the shooting, which killed two people, from a friend while she was driving.
'You need to call your kids and make sure they’re safe. There’s an active shooter,' she told Wisconsin Right Now.
She claimed to have at one point stood up in the 'packed' basement area and offered up a prayer: 'That’s the difference between private and public school.'
Eventually, a phone call from an unknown number turned out to be her son, who was at the church sanctuary the survivors were taken to.
'They were in the church sanctuary and were safe and he had eyes on his sister. At that point, I could stop crying.'
Parents of Abundant Life Christian School give details on the shooter, victims
James and Rebekah Smith, parents of a 17-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School, are revealing details about one of the victims, whom they say are all family friends, as well as the shooter.
They told Fox News that Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow had only enrolled at the school during the current semester.
The Smiths did not know Rupnow nor her family. Their daughter claimed she never spoke to anyone.
They were, however, friendly with the student killed, a high school freshman.
'She gave great hugs. She was an amazing pianist. She loved to read. She was just an amazing young girl,' Rebekah Smith said.
They added that the teacher killed had long been a fixture at the school as a substitute teacher and only recently been given a full-time job.
The teacher often would speak with Rebekah at their daughter's basketball games.
Terrifying social media posts tied to mass school shooter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow are being investigated by Wisconsin police
Investigators are examining the digital footprint of Madison, Wisconsin school shooter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow as well as looking into verifying a possible manifesto that the 15-year-old may have left behind.
Rupnow opened fire on kids and staff at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday - raining bullets in the study hall before turning the gun on herself.
As police look into verifying Rupnow's accounts, reports of her obsession with possible white supremacist ideologies and infamous past school shooters were witnessed on online accounts connected to her.
Screenshots posted of the alleged manifesto have shown Rupnow to be a lonely child who said she was 'trapped and forced into my corner.'
The screed expressed unhappiness at what she described as a broken home and made multiple references to a therapist.
Rupnow allegedly describes herself as a 'loner' but admits she will 'mourn for friends but sooner than later they'll leave.'
The pages posted do not point to a specific political ideology but they claim 'we need revolution.'
It ends with a quote attributed to the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski: 'Finally, one learns that boredom is a disease of civilization.'
