Who is Natalie ‘Samantha’ Rupnow? Wisconsin school shooter, 15, was ‘dealing with problems’ before rampage

Natalie ‘Samantha’ Rupnow arrived at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday morning – and just hours later, she opened fire on a study hall, killing two and injuring six others, before turning the gun on herself. 

Police identified 15-year-old Rupnow as the shooter at the Madison, Wisconsin-based private school and claimed that the attack had been pre-meditated.

A law enforcement source told CNN that Rupnow ‘had been dealing with problems and expressed some of those in writings, which they are now reviewing.’ A manifesto, that cops have not confirmed is linked to the teen, was published on social media. 

The shooter, who went by the name Samantha, was present from the start of the school day and eventually opened fire on a room full of students from various grades, according to Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. 

Cops confirmed that shooter Rupnow was not on their radar and had no prior interactions with her before today, though they said a probe would confirm that.   

It was not immediately clear to Barnes or investigators which grade Rupnow attended at the school, which serves students from the age of three to the end of high school. 

When authorities arrived, Rupnow was found wounded from a self-inflicted gunshot after the rampage, and was pronounced dead on her way to a local hospital.

Barnes said that a second-grade student was the one who called 911 to the school.

It is not yet confirmed if Rupnow’s family – who are cooperating with the investigation – were gun owners. 

Police raided her Delaware Boulevard home on Monday night to find anything she may have left behind. A door appeared to have been battered down and left on the ground and CNN reported that officers had thrown stun grenades into the home.

Barnes said they’re currently speaking with the shooter’s father at one of their facilities and that he’s cooperating. 

‘The parents are fully cooperating, we have no reason to believe that they have committed a crime at this time,’ Barnes said, before offering empathy for her father.

‘He lost someone as well. And so we’re not going to rush the information, we’ll take our time and certainly do our due diligence.’

The chief added that he had no knowledge of any previous interactions with Rupnow: ‘I think if there were, we certainly would have had some type of intervention, but I’m not aware of that.’ 

Police said they are aware of a manifesto allegedly written by the 15-year-old shooter circulating on social media.

However, cops said they haven’t been able to verify that it’s authentic.

Chief Barnes told the press conference on Monday night: ‘A document about this shooting is circulating at this time on social media, but we have not verified its authenticity.’ 

‘We haven’t been able to verify that it’s authentic. We’re certainly aware that it’s been posted and the person who posted it, alleged to have a connection with the victim,’ Barnes said. 

The chief also waded into online speculation over the shooter’s gender or possible status as a transgender person.

Barnes slammed speculation over Rupnow’s gender on social media after he was asked about it.

‘I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not. And quite frankly, I don’t think that’s important at all,’ he said.

‘I don’t think whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may want to identify.’ He added that it didn’t really matter for the time being and that it was ‘just not helping.’

‘For what we’re doing right now, today, literally eight hours after a mass shooting in a school in Madison, it is of no consequence at this time (what gender the shooter was),’ he said. 

He also claimed that he had no knowledge of any previous interactions with Rupnow: ‘I think if there were, we certainly would have had some type of intervention, but I’m not aware of that.’

Police got a 911 call at 10:57am Monday morning, and within three minutes, county sheriff’s deputies had arrived at Abundant Life Christian School, which educates about 420 students. Local police arrived seconds later. 

At 11:05am, they said that they’d found the shooter wounded and recovered the weapon. Rupnow was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.

Simultaneously, fire department workers got to the scene and began to care for the victims. Currently, two students are hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and are said to be in critical condition.

A teacher and three other students were also hospitalized with less serious wounds. Two of them were released Monday evening.

Victims have yet to be identified, pending family notification. 

Governor Tony Evers said on X: ‘I am closely monitoring the incident at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison.’

‘We are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information and are grateful for the first responders who are working quickly to respond.’

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson said on X: ‘My sincere condolences and prayers for all the victims of the tragedy at Abundant Life Christian School. I will continue to closely monitor the situation.’

The school was just days away from closing for Christmas Vacation and students were gearing up for Monday night’s basketball game.

Abundant Life Christian School posted a prayer request on Facebook in the wake of the shooting. 

‘Today, we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are in the midst of following up. We will share information as we are able,’ the school said. 

President Joe Biden was briefed on the school shooting. Senior White House officials said they are in touch with local counterparts in Madison to provide support.