Father of Madison shooter at Abundant Life Christian School charged criminally for giving daughter guns

The father of a teenager who shot multiple people at a Madison school late last year has been charged criminally after prosecutors say he gave guns to his daughter.

Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, of Madison is facing two felony counts of intentionally giving, selling or loaning a dangerous weapon to a person under the age of 18 and one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Jeffrey Rupnow is scheduled to appear in court for an initial appearance Friday. He’s being held in the Dane County Jail after police arrested him shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday following a traffic stop. Records in his case were under seal until early Thursday afternoon.

Fifteen-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by “Samantha,” was living in Madison with her father when she opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School on Dec. 16.

Madison police have previously said that Samantha Rupnow brought two handguns to the school where she was a student. Authorities said she used one of those guns to shoot multiple other people during a mixed-grade study hall before shooting and killing herself.

A trace of those guns by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later revealed that both were legally purchased and registered to Jeffrey Rupnow. One was a Glock 9 mm and the other was a Sig Sauer .22 caliber pistol, according to records filed by Dane County prosecutors this week.

Erin West, a 42-year-old teacher from DeForest, and Rubi Vergara, a 14-year-old freshman at Abundant Life, were killed in the shooting. Six other people were injured.

After Samantha Rupnow died by suicide, one of the injured students in the room “quickly grabbed the gun that was used and hid it in a nearby desk drawer,” Madison’s Acting Police Chief John Patterson said at a news conference Thursday.

“The true heroes of that day were the students in the school, their classmates and every employee of the ALCS,” Patterson said. “You all showed courage and compassion to one another during your darkest day. Please know that you are not alone and you will always have our support.”

The shooting happened on a Monday, just days before the scheduled start of Christmas break. Samantha Rupnow slept in that day and arrived to school late, at 10:39 a.m. after taking an Uber, police said.

After stopping by the school’s main office, the shooter went to a locker and spent time in the bathroom before heading to the study hall. The first gunshots were heard at 10:54 a.m. and the first officers were dispatched three minutes after that, according to police.

Court records: Father told police he bought guns for his daughter

Following the shooting, investigators searched the home of Samantha Rupnow’s father in Madison as well as the Janesville home of her mother, Madison’s former Police Chief Shon Barnes has confirmed previously. The shooter’s parents are divorced.

In a criminal complaint filed by Dane County prosecutors, officials said a search of Jeffrey Rupnow’s home turned up a locked safe with three rifles and five handguns inside. The complaint also said there was an unsecured rifle in a bedframe drawer under a bed. Jeffrey Rupnow had purchased that rifle as a Christmas gift for his daughter, authorities said.

In an interview with police on Jan. 29, Jeffrey Rupnow described going to the shooting range as a way to bond with his daughter. He told a detective that he first bought a .22 Sig handgun for her as a Christmas present in 2023.

Jeffrey Rupnow also told a detective he bought a Glock handgun for his daughter last summer. Although that gun was in Jeffrey Rupnow’s name, the father said his daughter paid for part of the purchase with her own money and he paid for the rest, the criminal complaint states.

One the day before the shooting, Samantha Rupnow was cleaning one of her guns after Jeffrey Rupnow took it out of the safe and gave it to her, Jeffrey Rupnow told police according to the criminal complaint. He told police he wasn’t sure whether the gun was put back in the safe later before he closed and locked it.

The father also admitted that his daughter may have known how to open the safe.

“The defendant stated [his daughter] does not officially know the combination to the safe however at one point in time he told her it was his Social Security number backwards just in case something would ever have happened to him, and she would need entry,” the complaint says. “The defendant stated it is possible that [his daughter] has observed him type the code in several times in the past.”

Complaint details teen’s history of mental health issues

Additionally, the complaint details the daughter’s history of mental health issues, including suicidal ideation and self-harm.

Jeffrey Rupnow told police his daughter had previously seen a therapist but had stopped sometime around last spring, the complaint says.

When asked by a detective after the shooting whether his daughter ever made comments about hurting others, Jeffrey Rupnow told police “Nothing serious or malicious,” the complaint says.

A search of Jeffrey Rupnow’s phone turned up a text sent Dec. 5, 11 days before that shooting, in which Jeffrey Rupnow texted a woman, “yeah my kid would shoot me if I left the fun safe open right now.”

The father told the detective he didn’t remember the exact context for that statement but said, “We were probably arguing about something, and she was in one of her moods.”

Jeffrey Rupnow added, “If I was really concerned, I would have done something about this, not sit and text on my phone,” the complaint says.

The father also told the detective, “There was one point where every knife in my house was locked up,” the complaint says.

Madison officials call for safe gun storage, stricter gun regulations

During Thursday’s news conference, Madison’s Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said stricter gun regulations are needed to prevent further violence.

And both the mayor and the police chief said adults need to more careful about storing guns near children.

“Gun owners also have a responsibility here,” Rhodes-Conway said. “The responsibility to secure their weapons and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands.”

A Madison police investigation remains open and Patterson, the department’s acting chief, said the shooter’s motive may never be fully understood.

“We do know the teenager had a fascination with weapons and school shootings.” Patterson said. “She often talked about them with people she met online, people from all over the world.”

Madison teen had been messaging with others about mass attacks

According to court records filed in Florida in a separate case, Samantha Rupnow had been messaging with others about planning mass attacks. In those online messages, she described having access to guns through her father.

In a manifesto found by police after searching the Rupnow’s Madison home, “Rupnow indicated that she had manipulated her father into purchasing firearms,” according to the petition and an affidavit filed in Palm Beach County.

Authorities in Palm Beach County filed those documents last week after police there arrested 22-year-old Damien Blade Allen, who was accused of plotting multiple mass attacks. Those court records show the Abundant Life shooter had been messaging with Allen about their shared enthusiasm for mass shootings.

Among other messages sent to Allen, Samantha Rupnow made an apparent reference to 9 mm handguns in a post sent in May 2024. She wrote, “I got two of my fathers 9 mm and a cool shirt lmao,” according to court records filed in Florida.

Late last year, a judge in California ordered a Carlsbad man to surrender his guns after records filed in court indicated that man had also been communicating with Samantha Rupnow about mass violence before she attacked her school in Wisconsin.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call or text the three-digit suicide and crisis lifeline at 988. Resources are available online here.

WPR reporter Anna Marie Yanny contributed reporting.