Wisconsin police criminally charge father of Christian school shooter

Madison police on Thursday arrested the father of the Abundant Life Christian School shooter, acting Madison Police Chief John Patterson said during a press conference later that day. Jeffrey Rupnow faced felony charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child and two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a minor resulting in death, police records showed. The arrest came nearly six months after investigators say Rupnow’s daughter, a student at Abundant Life, fatally shot two people, a student and teacher, and injured six more before taking her own life.

Have police identified the shooter’s motive? Patterson said the shooter’s motive may never be understood, but described evidence recovered about the shooter as disturbing. Evidence showed that the teen was fascinated with weapons, violence, and mass shootings, which she often discussed with users online, Patterson said. Authorities recovered writings that they said amounted to a manifesto titled “War Against Humanity,” along with drawings and videos all showing a pointed interest in mass violence, the chief continued. All the evidence recovered from the Rupnow home would spark concerns in the mind of a normal person, Patterson said.

Authorities recovered two guns from the school, both of which were legally purchased and owned by Rupnow. Police recovered several other weapons while searching the Rupnow home, including a firearm the father planned to gift to the shooter, Patterson said. Police found a gun safe in the home, but it remained unclear whether the safe was locked, if the shooter knew the combination, or if the guns were just left out, authorities further noted.

Patterson also offered greater insight into the shooter's moves on the day of the attack. The shooter overslept, took a ride-share to school, and arrived at the main office around 10:40 a.m. She stopped at her locker, then the restroom, before going upstairs to open fire on a classroom holding a study hall just before 11 a.m. The teen shot and killed a teacher and student in the classroom, and wounded five other students in the room, along with a teacher in an adjacent room, Patterson said. Today, one student is still being treated in the hospital for their injuries, the chief said at the Thursday press conference.

Patterson refused to comment on whether others would be charged in the case. He also refused to comment on whether there was evidence supporting the shooter’s previous claims of receiving abuse from her father. An indictment is merely an accusation of wrongdoing and all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty.

How can a parent be charged for something their child did? The parents of the Oxford High School shooter were charged and convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges for their son’s attack that killed four people and injured seven more. James and Jennifer Crumbley made history as the first parents in the United States to be convicted and sentenced on charges related to a mass school shooting their child committed. Prosecutors alleged that the parents chose to ignore warning signs in their son, neglected his mental health, and made a gun available to him, and the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the parents should be tried. The pair were sentenced to at least a decade in prison inlast April of last year. Their son received a life sentence without the chance of parole for carrying out the 2021 shooting.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the Madison community’s recovery from the shooting that happened days before Christmas.