Wisconsin school shooting latest: Natalie Rupnow ‘received texts’ from man plotting government building attack

The teacher who was killed in the Wisconsin school shooting has been named as 42-year-old Erin Michelle West, the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Wednesday night.

West was a substitute coordinator at Abundant Life Christian School, according to the school’s staff directory, the Journal Sentinelreported.

Earlier on Wednesday evening Rubi Vergara, 14, was named as the student who was killed in the deadly attack on Monday.

Rhian Lubin has the story.

The student who was killed in the Wisconsin school shooting has been identified as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14.

An obituary released Wednesday named the 14-year-old as one of the victims of the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, the Associated Press reported.

On Monday police identified 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow as the shooter at the Christian school, but have yet to reveal a motive following the deadly attack.

Rhian Lubin has the details.

The Abundant Life Christian School has set up an emergency recovery fund in the wake of the devastating shooting which took place on school grounds on Monday.

A pop up on the school’s website, which declares that ALCS is currently closed, asks visitors to donate to support the children, families and educators affected by the attack.

Via a portal on United Way of Dane County’s website,the school asks for donations of $20, $50, $100 or “other”.

One hundred percent of proceeds go to the school, according to the fundraising page.

A Californian man was detained by the FBI on Tuesday after allegedly texting Natalie Rupnow about a plot to blow up a government building.

Alexander Paffendorf, 20, was issued a gun-violence restraining order and detained by federal agents after he was accused of messaging the 15-year-old shooter around the time of her attack on the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday.

He is accused of detailing a plot involving the use of exploives and firearms to attack a goverment building. The location of the alleged attack was not made clear.

Paffendorf allegedly told Rupnow that he “would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” according to a two-page restraining order obtained by CBS 8.

Natalie Rupnow, the 15-year-old who opened fire on people inside the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, seemed “quiet” and “really lonely,” a fellow student said.

Mackynzie Wilson, a sophomore at the school who had a locker next to Rupnow, said the teen appeared to be a lone wolf.

“She was really quiet. She didn’t really have any friends, and she just seemed really lonely,” Wilson told CNN.

“It wasn’t like she was trying to fit in. She seemed very content being alone.”

The shooting took place inside of a study hall room where students of multiple grades were present.

A second-grade teacher was the one who called 911 and alerted police to the shooting.

Officers arrived at the school about three minutes after the 911 call and immediately entered the school.

A seventh-grader from Abundant Life Christian School described the slain teacher as a “kind and caring” person.

Teacher Erin Michelle West, 42, was identified on Wednesday evening as one the victims who died on Monday.

Angel Brube, who was inside the Madison, Wisconsin, school at the time of the shooting said on Tuesday that he had been taught by the slain teacher, without specifically naming her, “many times before”.

“The teacher, yes I did know her. And she was a really good person,” he told CNN.

“She was always very kind and caring and she was always very friendly and communicative.”

As they reel from Monday’s shooting, parents whose children are enrolled at the Abundant Life Christian School have praised it for fostering a “tightknit” environment.

“We’re all a family, and we all know each other, whether they’re in the same grade or not,” Karl Gottschalk, who has three children enrolled at the school, told the New York Times. “It’s never been a concern that something like this would happen since this is such a small, religious school.”

“It’s a very tightknit community with not only excellent academics, but our love for Jesus and trust in God is the foundation,” Hannah Lease, whose two sons attend the school, told the outlet. “That’s what keeps us going during this time.”

Nick Cardarella, whose wife works at the school, added: “It’s come as you are. There is that religious element, but they’re not pushy in any kind of way.”

“It’s starting to be a big school, but we feel very connected,” Michelet Jean-Charles, who moved to Wisconsin from Haiti, said. “We feel that we can trust everyone at the school — the kids, their parents. We give hugs, we shake hands.”

Teacher Erin West, 42, and student Rubi Vergara, 14, have been named as the victims who were killed after 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire.

The teenager also died during the incident from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.

As tributes continue to come in for the pair, read what we do know about the victims so far.

The father of school shooter Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, who killed two people and wounded six others at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, encouraged the 15-year-old to practice her weapons-handling skills in the months leading up to Monday’s bloodshed, according to a review of his online activity.

In August, Jeff Rupnow - who was unable to be reached on Tuesday - posted a photograph on Facebook of what appears to be his shotgun-wielding daughter shooting clay pigeons at a local gun club.

“Is that kiddo?” a friend commented.

“Sure is!!!!” Rupnow replied. “We joined NBSC this spring and we have been loving all [sic] every second of it!”

The North Bristol Sportsman’s Club, or NBSC, is located in Sun Prairie, a suburb of 35,000 roughly 20 miles northeast of Madison. Individual memberships cost $75 yearly, and family memberships go for $90, plus an annual rifle/pistol range premium of $25. The NBSC youth program welcomes kids as young as 9, according to the club’s website.

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