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OAN Staff Abril Elfi
2:59 PM – Wednesday, May 7, 2025
The father of Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, the 15-year-old girl who opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School last December, killing two people and injuring others, has reportedly been arrested.
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Online data provided by the Wisconsin Department of Justice reported that Jeffrey Rupnow was booked into the Dane County Jail on Thursday at around 3:45 a.m.
According to online court documents, he was charged on Wednesday with two counts of willfully selling a dangerous weapon to someone under the age of 18, causing death, in addition to one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a child.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday, and he was arrested the next day on Thursday.
15-year-old Rupnow started shooting her firearm inside a classroom during study hall on December 16, 2024, killing Rubi Vergara, 14, Erin West, 42, while wounding five other students—two of whom were severely injured and admitted to the hospital—before turning the gun on herself.
Court documents, which the Washington Post was able to obtain, stated that Natalie Rupnow had been in therapy due to “family-related” issues before she killed the two victims and herself.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County, Jeffrey told investigators that he was “proactive” in managing his daughter’s access to firearms.
However, documented evidence from the Rupnow home and a testimony from her father demonstrated that his child had access to multiple firearms—at the same time that he was aware of her severe mental health issues.
According to the complaint, he told police on the day of the shooting that he had 12 weapons in his home, but that they were stored in a safe. Police then allegedly discovered only eight of those firearms during their check of the property.
The police report noted that Jeffrey removed one of the guns from the safe at his daughter’s request the day before the incident, and he later told investigators that he “couldn’t remember” if the pistol was returned before closing the safe again.
Additionally, investigators also discovered a manifesto written by the shooter at her home, in which she praised prior school shooters. They also purportedly discovered comprehensive floor plans for Abundant Life Christian School, as well as a camera with footage of her handling guns inside the home while discussing killings and massacres.
The father had already been questioned about his daughter’s suicidal thoughts in 2021. At that time, he admitted that he did not take her suicide warnings seriously. On top of that, in 2022, Madison police spoke with him about the eventual shooter’s high-risk online conduct.
When he was asked why he let his daughter unpack and pack the gun safely, Jeffrey allegedly told investigators: “I didn’t feel like I needed to babysit her with this.”
He is due to appear in court on Friday at 1:30 p.m. local time in Wisconsin.
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