Authorities have charged the father of the 15-year-old shooter who killed two people and injured six others at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, in December, police said on Thursday.
Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, is accused of giving his daughter access to the pistols that she used in her attack, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/father-15-year-killed-2-wisconsin-religious-school-121611692" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The teenage female shooter, who just four months prior had started attending Abundant Life, opened fire in a study hall on December 16, killing teacher Erin Michelle West and 14-year-old student Rubi Bergara. The shooter, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, then turned the gun on herself and was found dead by responding officers.
Rupnow faces two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a person under 18, causing death, and contributing to the delinquency of a child, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/09/us-news/father-of-15-year-old-wisconsin-school-shooter-natalie-rupnow-faces-felony-charges/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Friday.
The criminal complaint against Rupnow says that his daughter spiraled after her parents divorced, expressing a hatred of humanity, according to ABC News. Court records showed that the shooter was in therapy over her troubled home life and would often bounce back and forth between her mother and father. Her parents divorced in 2014, remarried in 2017, divorced again in 2020, and then remarried for a second time, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/12/17/madison-wisconsin-school-shooter-natalie-rupnow/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. By April 2021, the couple petitioned for a third divorce and were “admonished” by a judge “concerning remarriage.”
The criminal complaint states that Rupnow attempted to bond with his daughter through firearms. According to the complaint, Rupnow bought his daughter a 9mm pistol and a .22-caliber Sig Sauer pistol. Rupnow allegedly bought the Sig Sauer pistol for Christmas in 2023, when she would have been just 14 years old.
The father told investigators that following the divorce, his daughter started cutting herself so badly that he had to lock up all the knives in his home. After taking her shooting with him on a friend&#8217;s property to connect with her, Rupnow told investigators he was stunned at how quickly her interest in guns &#8220;snow balled.&#8221;
Rupnow kept the guns he got for his daughter in a gun safe, but gave her the combination to open it. Just ten days before the deadly attack on the Christian school, Rupnow texted a friend that his daughter would shoot him if he left “the fun safe open right now,&#8221; according to the complaint. The father expressed regret to investigators about teaching his daughter about firearms and urged police to encourage people to change the combination on their gun safes frequently.
Investigators discovered a six-page manifesto in the shooter&#8217;s bedroom in her father&#8217;s house, along with maps of the school and a schedule of how she would carry out the attack. In her manifesto, which was titled &#8220;War Against Humanity,&#8221; the shooter wrote that she hated people who don&#8217;t care and &#8220;smoke their lungs out with weed or drink as much as they can like my own father,&#8221; ABC News reported.
The felony charges against Rupnow continue a new practice of prosecutors going after the parents of mass shooters. Last year, both parents of the Oxford, Michigan, high school shooter were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-of-michigan-school-shooter-sentenced" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> of involuntary manslaughter, becoming the first parents convicted of crimes connected to their child carrying out a mass shooting. The father of a 14-year-old boy who opened fire and killed four people at a high school in Georgia last year also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/father-of-suspected-georgia-school-shooter-charged-with-murder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faces</a> second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges.

Abundant Life Christian School

Father Of 15-Year-Old Wisconsin Christian School Shooter Hit With Felony Charges

Christian

Crime

Mass Shooting

School Shooting

Shooting

U.S.

Wisconsin

Authorities identified the man accused of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shooting-reported-at-florida-state-university-at-least-4-people-wounded?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=At+Least+2+Dead%2C+Multiple+Wounded+In+Shooting+At+Florida+State" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening fire</a> at Florida State University on Thursday as the son of a Leon County, Florida, Sheriff&#8217;s Department deputy.
At least two people were killed and six more were wounded in the shooting that took place just before noon ET. Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil identified the shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name per company policy, as a 20-year-old male student at FSU, who is the son of a sheriff&#8217;s deputy who has been with the Leon County Sheriff&#8217;s Department for over 18 years.
&#8220;Her service to this community has been exceptional,&#8221; Sheriff McNeil said of the deputy. &#8220;Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons, and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.&#8221;
The weapon found at the scene was not the firearm that the deputy was currently using on the force, but rather one that she had been issued previously by her department.
&#8220;A lot of times — many agencies, mine included — when we transition to a new handgun, the officers are allowed to purchase the handgun they used prior. &#8230; I believe that&#8217;s the case here,&#8221; Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence E. Revell said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
The 20-year-old suspect was also a &#8220;longstanding member of the Leon County Sheriff&#8217;s Office Youth Advisory Council,&#8221; McNeil added. &#8220;So he has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff&#8217;s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have, so it&#8217;s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.&#8221;
The shooter was neutralized &#8220;immediately&#8221; by Florida State University Police, and he has been transported to a local hospital. Neither of the victims who were killed were Florida State students, and their identities have not yet been released, Interim FSU Police Chief Justin Maloy said at the press conference.
FSU President Richard McCullough called the first responders &#8220;absolute heroes.&#8221;
&#8220;The call went out, and immediately they responded to the scene and immediately neutralized the suspect and prevented this from being a bigger tragedy,&#8221; McCullough said.
Florida State canceled classes and all athletic events on campus for the rest of the week.
President Donald Trump addressed the shooting from the Oval Office during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, adding that he has been “fully briefed as to where we are right now.”
“It’s a shame. It’s a horrible thing, horrible that things like this take place,” Trump added. “And we’ll have more to say about it later.”

Florida State University shooting

FSU Shooter Identified As Son Of Sheriff’s Deputy Whose Weapon Was Found At The Scene

Florida

Florida State University

Guns

The final police report on Nashville&#8217;s deadly Covenant School shooting, released more than two years after the attack, claims the motive of the attack was &#8220;notoriety&#8221; and makes little mention of the shooter&#8217;s radical positions on gender, race, or religious animus.
While pages from the writings of the 28-year-old woman who murdered three children and three adults at The Covenant School in March 2023 demonstrate that she was fixated on gender ideology and &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; police <a href="https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2025-04/Covenant_Final_Summary.pdf?ct=1743609642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> that she was primarily motivated by a desire for notoriety. Investigators said that neither her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documented hatred</a> of Christianity or affluent white people played a role in her targeting of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school in a wealthy area of Nashville.
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&#8220;Regarding why she selected The Covenant, many have speculated [the shooter] selected this location for racial, religious, or economic motives,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;It is certainly true she raged over these topics at times in her writings. But none of those motives impacted her decision to attack The Covenant.&#8221;
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Instead, the police said that Covenant was targeted because the attacker, who was killed by police, believed that she would receive greater notoriety by murdering young children. Three of the victims of the March 27, 2023, attack — Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney — were all just 9 years old. The other victims of the attack were adults Michael Hill, Katherine Koonce, and Cynthia Peak.
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Throughout the report, police made little mention of the attacker&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-shooter-cited-transgender-rights-in-shooting-spree-manifesto-contradicting-official-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender identity</a>, only mentioning that she identified as a male and that she had made references to wanting to transition. 
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&#8220;It should be noted that in life, the offender &#8230; gender identified as a male and used he/him as preferred pronouns. Under Tennessee law, a person’s gender identity must correspond with their biological sex or with information present on their certificate of live birth,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;As [the attacker] was a biological female at the time of her death and throughout the incidents described in this summary and in the case file, [the attacker] will be referred to as a female.&#8221;
In the only other mention of her transgender identity, investigators said that they uncovered no evidence of her undergoing any gender medical procedures.
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&#8220;Nothing has been found to suggest she initiated or was undergoing a transition at the time of her death, including medical documentation,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;During her autopsy following her death, it was determined she was biologically female.&#8221; 
These mentions don&#8217;t appear to fully take into account the attacker&#8217;s transgender identity, which dominated her life.
In journal entries previously published by The Daily Wire, the attacker wrote just weeks before the deadly shooting about her fantasy of having an “imaginary penis” and said that it was a &#8220;f***ing curse&#8221; that she was born a woman.
“I want to know what that’s like, but I never will because I was damned to be born this way,” she wrote in the journal of her desire to have a penis. “I swear to f*** I hate it so goddamned much. It’s a f***ing curse.”
<div id="attachment_750005" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-750005" class="size-full wp-image-750005" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720.jpg" alt="Image of Covenant School shooter's journal obtained by The Daily Wire" width="720" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Image of Covenant School shooter&#8217;s journal obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
She said that puberty ruined her life, lamenting the fact that her parents never put her on puberty blockers.
“A bare flat chest made me free. Girl puberty imprisoned me. And so does my mind. Puberty = life sentence. The people in this world adds more bullets to shoot violent thoughts into my head on full-auto,&#8221; she wrote.
In other journal entries, the attacker made clear her hatred of  Christianity and people with &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; which she believed hindered her development.
For example, she wrote that she wanted to kill “crackers going to private fancy schools&#8221; and explained why she rejected her parents&#8217; faith.
“Parents actually believe religion can change nature,” the shooter wrote. “That could explain why I don’t practice religion anymore. Let kids think for themselves, listening to parents does no damned good but to mold their premature minds into a pre-formatted program.”
These writings were portions from 16 notebooks, which some have referred to as her manifesto, and were the subject of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-judge-appears-to-back-off-on-threats-to-punish-journalist-over-articles-on-covenant-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lengthy legal battle</a>. In their report, police denied the existence of a manifesto, saying that there was no singular &#8220;document explaining why she committed the attack, why she specifically targeted The Covenant, and what she hoped to gain, if anything, with the attack.&#8221;
Police investigators also ruled that the attacker was &#8220;sane&#8221; despite numerous mental health disorders.
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&#8220;Despite all her assorted mental health disorders, [the attacker] was certainly sane,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;She was capable of adjusting her plans as needed, manipulating others into seeing her as meek and nonthreatening, and fully understood her attack was not only criminal but morally reprehensible.&#8221;
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Police say that the attacker first started to fantasize about carrying out a school shooting in 2017 before beginning to plan one in 2018.
&#8220;By this point, [the shooter] wrote how she was tired of being alone and ignored, ostracized by those she felt were her friends, and shunned by society for being autistic,&#8221; the police wrote. &#8220;After writing an expletive rant directed towards her &#8216;best friend&#8217; for choosing a relationship with a man over her, [the shooter] decided it was time to make others notice her for a change. She felt by &#8216;killing a bunch of children&#8217; she would no longer be ignored.&#8221;
Police said that the attacker floated in her mind a number of different targets, including various Nashville schools and malls. At one point, one of her plans was disrupted after her guns were confiscated by her parents, with whom she lived in Nashville.
She moved away from targeting one school because it was predominantly black, worrying that she &#8220;would be seen as a racist, which would affect how much control she had over the narrative after her death and allow others to state her motive behind the attack.&#8221;
Eventually, police say that she settled on the Covenant School because she believed she would receive more notoriety by attacking a Christian school and that the faith of the students would make them &#8220;meek and afraid.&#8221; She prepared for the attack for years, even going on a tour of the facility in September 2021 so she could map out the school&#8217;s layout in preparation.
Despite this conclusion, police said that the attacker never left behind any evidence of having a specific animosity for the Covenant School.
&#8220;She never remarked of being bullied and ostracized there; on the contrary, she remarked on a couple of occasions how she established friendships, which included play-dates at the homes of other children and a sense of acceptance,&#8221; police said. &#8220;She gave no examples of how anyone at the school belittled her or harmed her, as she did in other places she attended school.&#8220;
At the end of the report, investigators officially closed the investigation, saying that they identified no other individuals who were criminally culpable for the shooting.

3 children, 3 teachers fatally shot in US city of Nashville school shooting

Nashville Police In Final Report Downplay Covenant Shooter’s Transgender Identity, Hatred Of Christianity

Nashville

Police

Tennessee

The Covenant School

Transgender

Law enforcement officials say that they stopped a mass casualty attack in Texas this week on a high school in Houston.
&#8220;FBI Houston received information yesterday that two underage teenagers from the Houston area were plotting a mass casualty attack at a local school,&#8221; the local FBI field office said in a statement on Wednesday night.
The two suspects, identified as a 15-year-old and 16-year-old, were quickly located and arrested after the threat was made on social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a> FBI Houston received information yesterday that two underage teenagers from the Houston area were plotting a mass casualty attack at a local school. Our Threat Mitigation Team immediately responded to help <a href="https://twitter.com/houstonpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@houstonpolice</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/MCTXSheriff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MCTXSheriff</a> identify and arrest them. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HouNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HouNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/FjzPJpGQ0e">pic.twitter.com/FjzPJpGQ0e</a>
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIHouston/status/1892364104280555908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
Fox News reporter Brooke Taylor said that Chief Baimbridge with Spring Branch ISD indicated that the two suspects were girls.
They allegedly were &#8220;going to place pipe bombs across Memorial High School and shoot up the students,&#8221; Taylor wrote. &#8220;The 16 girl student who attends the school was found at the school about 30 minutes after the threat.&#8221;
The threats were transmitted over social media and were &#8220;extremely detailed,&#8221; Taylor added, &#8220;which is why police believe it to be so credible.&#8221;
Fox 26 Houston <a href="https://www.fox26houston.com/news/montgomery-county-crime-2-students-arrested-plotting-mass-casualty-attack-against-memorial-high-school">reported</a> one of the students was from Willis High School while the other was from Spring Branch ISD.
&#8220;The safety and security of our schools and community remain our highest priority,&#8221; the Montgomery County Sheriff&#8217;s Office said in a statement. &#8220;We understand the concerns this situation may cause for students, parents, and faculty, and we are taking every necessary precaution.&#8221;
&#8220;Additional security measures have been implemented, and we continue to work closely with school officials and our law enforcement partners to ensure a safe environment,&#8221; the statement added. &#8220;We encourage the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. If you see something, say something. This investigation is in the early stages, and we are reviewing all available evidence. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.&#8221;
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UPDATE: I just spoke to Chief Baimbridge with Spring Branch ISD. He tells me two teenage girls, 15 &amp; 16 years old, were going to place pipe bombs across Memorial High School and shoot up the students. The 16 girl student who attends the school was found at the school about 30…
— Brooke Taylor (@Brooketaylortv) <a href="https://twitter.com/Brooketaylortv/status/1892380805399531671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2025</a></blockquote>

A crest of the Federal Bureau of Investi

Two Teen Girls Arrested For Plotting Mass Casualty Attack On High School: Report

An 18-year-old girl, who allegedly wrote about identifying as a male and had a &#8220;shrine&#8221; to mass killers, was arrested and charged this week for allegedly planning a mass school shooting at Mooresville High School in Indiana.
The student, a female who allegedly identifies as a &#8220;transgender male,&#8221; was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and felony intimidation after one of her friends sent information to the FBI&#8217;s Sandy Hook tipline. The tipster stated that a friend was planning on carrying out a mass shooting and had access to an AR-15 rifle, <a href="https://wlos.com/resources/pdf/6ac11bcf-18fb-4c09-86ec-7fac9c972ffb-PCWhite_3039741111.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to police</a>.
After the tip came in, the FBI tracked down disturbing messages the student allegedly sent under the name &#8220;Jamie&#8221; on social media platforms Snapchat and Discord. The messages detailed plans for a mass shooting along with photos of a bulletproof vest and AR-15 rifles. In one of the messages, Jamie wrote that she had been planning the school shooting for a year.
According to investigators, the student spoke with a school counselor on Tuesday and disclosed that she was sexually attracted to the 19-year-old shooter who killed 17 people and wounded 17 more at Parkland High School in Florida in 2018.
In 2022, the student was hit by a suspected drunk driver while walking to the bus stop. The crash fractured her skull, broke her femur and arm, and caused two brain contusions, according to a report from <a href="https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/morgan-county/mooresville/mooresville-student-suffering-broken-bones-brain-contusions-after-being-hit-by-suspected-drunk-driver" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WRTV</a>. She allegedly told investigators that she was teased about the accident. &#8220;[She] found out later that the male who struck her with his vehicle, committed suicide. She felt like she killed him, but she knows she did not. She blamed herself for him killing himself,&#8221; the arrest affidavit states.
The student sought mental health help when she was a freshman, but a school official told police that her father did not allow her to continue receiving mental health assistance. Shortly after the student turned 18 last year, she signed herself up for mental health assistance.
Authorities executed a search warrant at her home, where she lives with her father. During their search, authorities said they found &#8220;a collage&#8221; on the wall of multiple mass shooters and found three notebooks belonging to the student.
&#8220;Each notebook depicted swastikas, the words &#8216;kill,&#8217; &#8216;bang,&#8217; &#8216;I hate you all DIE DIE DIE&#8217; among other obscenities,&#8221; the arrest affidavit stated.
According to police, one of the student&#8217;s notebook entries — dated December 16, 2024 — stated, &#8220;My name is Dex I am eighteen years old. Born on October 26th 2006. I currently live with my father, my mother passed away. I am aslo [sic] a transgender male. I have a lot of homicidal thoughts.&#8221;
A January 9, 2025, entry read, &#8220;I am death, destroyer of worlds.&#8221; A few days later, the writer penned, &#8220;These thoughts wont stop. I want to hurt others. All of the time! I want to hurt others. I wish people around me knew about my bad thoughts. I love violence.&#8221;
The student is being held without bond at the Morgan County Jail, WTHR <a href="https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/18-year-old-charged-allegedly-planning-mass-shooting-mooresville-high-school-trinity-shockley/531-3ab9d4e1-1d0c-4948-a6e3-289847054be5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.

18-Year-Old Indiana Girl Arrested After Allegedly Planning Valentine’s Day School Shooting

Indiana

Two students were shot in the cafeteria of Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, before the gunman turned the gun on himself, according to police.
Fox 17 Nashville <a href="https://fox17.com/news/local/2025-jan-22-metro-police-3-shot-at-antioch-high-school-nashville-tennessee-shooting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the gunman entered the cafeteria and shot two students before shooting himself. The Metro Nashville Police Department identified the shooter as a 17-year-old male who shot two students with a pistol. One female victim was killed and a male student was transported to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is in stable condition after suffering a &#8220;graze wound.&#8221; The gunman then shot and killed himself. Police initially said that two female students were shot, but <a href="https://x.com/MaddieNolanTV/status/1882155451896193418" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> now state that one female student was killed and one male student was wounded by the gunman.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Update from Metro Nashville Police PIO Don Aaron: <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXNashville?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOXNashville</a> <a href="https://t.co/1IbfwoNKXW">pic.twitter.com/1IbfwoNKXW</a>
— Madeleine Nolan (@MaddieNolanTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaddieNolanTV/status/1882146777908089109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Two SROs were inside the high school at the time of the shooting, but neither of them were in the cafeteria when the gunman opened fire, police said, according to <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/2-students-shot-at-antioch-high-school/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WKRN</a>.
According to the Metro Nashville Public Schools, Antioch High School went into lockdown after the shooting, and students were gathered in the school&#8217;s auditorium.
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BREAKING: A shooting incident is under investigation at Antioch High School. Three people have been wounded, including the suspect, who shot himself. Reunification site for parents is 3754 M&#8217;boro Pk. Buses will be taking students there. <a href="https://t.co/G5UypO7neP">pic.twitter.com/G5UypO7neP</a>
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) <a href="https://twitter.com/MNPDNashville/status/1882126810647023975?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Police set up a reunification site in Antioch at 3754 Murfreesboro Pike, where buses will transport students to be picked up by their parents.
The White House said that President Donald Trump &#8220;and his team are monitoring the news out of Nashville,&#8221; Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margeret Olohan reported.
&#8220;As details unfold, the White House offers its heartfelt thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this senseless tragedy and thank the brave first responders responding to the incident,&#8221; the White House added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
White House: &#8220;The President and his team are monitoring the news out of Nashville. As details unfold, the White House offers its heartfelt thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this senseless tragedy and thank the brave first responders responding to the incident.&#8221;
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1882165869528359332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Antioch High School is about 15 miles southeast of The Covenant School in Nashville, where nearly two years ago, a transgender-identifying shooter killed three children and three staff members before she was shot and killed by MNPD officers.
This is a developing story; refresh the page for updates.

Antioch High School Shooting

Two Students Shot At Nashville High School

Fourteen-year-old student Rubi Vergara and substitute teacher Erin West have been identified as the two people killed by a 15-year-old female shooter who opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS) in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday morning.
Both Vergara and West died at the scene of the shooting from &#8220;firearm-related trauma,&#8221; the medical examiner&#8217;s office said on Wednesday, according to the <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/breaking/2024/12/18/first-victim-of-mondays-school-shooting-in-madison-has-been-identified/77076171007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a>. The 15-year-old shooter, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, opened fire with a handgun in a study hall classroom that had students from mixed grades. She killed Vergara and West and wounded six others before turning the gun on herself.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said that police currently don&#8217;t have any indication that the shooter was targeting specific people. Barnes added that he did not know if the shooter was assigned to that particular study hall.
&#8220;The shooter made a decision to walk into that study hall with mixed high school students and open fire,” Barnes told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Everyone in that room had an equal chance of dying that day.”
An <a href="https://gundersonfh.com/obituaries/Rubi-Patricia-Vergara?obId=34144130" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obituary</a> for Vergara posted on Wednesday evening said the high school freshman was &#8220;an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.&#8221;
“Her gentle, loving, and kind heart was reflected in her smile. Rubi was a blessing to her class and our school. She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister,” ALCS said in a statement, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wisconsin-school-shooting-victims-named-teacher-erin-west-rubi-vergara-rcna184803" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>.
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“Often seen with a book in hand, she had a gift for art and music. Yet, it was Rubi’s love for Jesus that shined brightest and she shared His love with others by volunteering faithfully,&#8221; the statement added. &#8220;She will be missed deeply by her teachers and fellow students.&#8221;
West, 42, of DeForest, Wisconsin, was a substitute teacher for three years before she took the full-time role as the in-house substitute teacher and coordinator for ALCS.
“She served our teachers and students with grace, humor, wisdom, and — most importantly — with the love of Jesus. Her loss is a painful and deep one and she will be greatly missed not just among our staff, but our entire ALCS family,” the school said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The medical examiner in Madison, Wisconsin, has identified the two victims who lost their lives in this week’s shooting at Abundant Life Christian School.
The victims were 14-year-old Rubi P. Vergara, a student from Madison, and 42-year-old Erin M. West, a resident of DeForest,… <a href="https://t.co/1JeXhgnx3f">pic.twitter.com/1JeXhgnx3f</a>
— Crime With Bobby (@CrimeWithBobby) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrimeWithBobby/status/1869603514118471781?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A teacher and five students were wounded in the shooting. The surviving victims have not been identified, and four remain hospitalized, including two in critical condition, according to the most recent update from police. Authorities are still trying to determine a possible motive for the shooting and are looking into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-looking-into-possible-writings-belonging-to-wisconsin-school-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writings</a> potentially belonging to the female shooter.

Victims Killed In Wisconsin Christian School Shooting Identified

Christians

Victim

A California man was detained by the FBI on Tuesday night after he communicated with the 15-year-old Wisconsin school shooter and allegedly plotted his own mass shooting at a government building, according to police, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-man-told-wisconsin-shooting-suspect-plan-attack-government-rcna184794" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Authorities seized guns and ammunition from the Carlsbad, California, home of a 20-year-old male on Tuesday night. The seizure was authorized by a San Diego Superior Court judge who approved a &#8220;gun violence restraining order,&#8221; often called a &#8220;red flag&#8221; law, according to <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/fbi-links-carlsbad-man-to-wisconsin-school-shooting-suspect/3704417/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC 7</a>.
The man was detained “after he was discovered plotting a mass shooting with the Madison Wisconsin shooter,” a Carlsbad police officer wrote in the gun order.
According to the order, the 20-year-old suspect &#8220;admitted to the FBI agents&#8221; that he talked with the teen girl before she killed two people and wounded several others at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday morning. The man allegedly told her &#8220;that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building.&#8221; The Wisconsin school shooter was found at the scene with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police say that she used a handgun.
NBC News reported that it was unclear if the California man was arrested or charged after he was detained for questioning. How and why the man was allegedly in communication with the Wisconsin shooter also remains unclear. The Carlsbad Police Department assured the public on Wednesday night that &#8220;there is no threat to the Carlsbad community at this time.&#8221;
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Madison, Wisconsin, authorities are still working to determine a motive for the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School. The 15-year-old girl opened fire in a study hall classroom that had students of mixed grades, killing a classmate and substitute teacher and wounding six others. Police said earlier this week that they are looking into writings possibly authored by the shooter. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told CNN on Tuesday that authorities “have been made aware of a manifesto … or some type of letter that’s been posted by someone who alleged to be her friend.”
Court records obtained by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/12/17/madison-wisconsin-school-shooter-natalie-rupnow/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a> show that the shooter, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, was in therapy over her troubled home life. The 15-year-old split time between her mom and dad, who divorced in 2014, remarried in 2017, divorced again in 2020, and then remarried for a second time. By April 2021, the couple petitioned for a third divorce and were &#8220;admonished&#8221; by a judge &#8220;concerning remarriage.&#8221;
By July 2022, the shooter was enrolled in therapy to help guide decisions on which parent she would spend weekends with, court records show, according to the Post. Her parents&#8217; custody agreement moved her between her mom and dad every two to three days.
Asked at a Tuesday press conference how the shooter would have been able to obtain a firearm, Chief Barnes replied, &#8220;How does any 15-year-old get ahold of a gun?”

FBI Detains Man Who Plotted With Wisconsin School Shooter, Wanted To Target Government, Police Say

FBI Detained Man Who Plotted Mass Shooting With Wisconsin Shooter, Police Say

California

New details are emerging about the suspect in the shooting that took place at Abundant Life Christian School.
The Washington Post has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/12/17/madison-wisconsin-school-shooter-natalie-rupnow/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on the “troubled home life” of the shooter:
<blockquote>The 15-year-old girl who killed two people and wounded six others at her small Christian school here Monday had a turbulent home life, according to court records, which show that her parents divorced and remarried multiple times and that she had been enrolled in therapy. …
“There are always signs of a school shooting before it occurre[s],” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a Tuesday news conference, where he asked the public for patience as authorities investigated [the suspect’s] social media activity and state of mind leading up to the rampage. 
The teen is one of just nine female school shooters in the last 25 years, according to a database maintained by The Post. She is also among the younger recent shooters. … [The suspect’s] father is a Christian who often shared pictures of his dogs and his daughter, according to a review of his Facebook profile. …
But one post, from August, has attracted more scrutiny than others. In it, a photo appears to show [the suspect] wielding a gun and taking aim at a firing range. </blockquote>
Obviously, this means the Left is going to name and focus on gun control as the chief issue.
But, it seems to me, there is a bigger issue here: family turmoil.
I know these are the issues we are not supposed to discuss in American life. We are supposed to believe in a libertarian social ethos that says: When parents have a child and they break up for their own well-being and for the preservation of their own happiness, that has no impact on children whatsoever.
This has been a lie since it started in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. The divorce rate in those days was significantly lower than the current divorce rate. Today, the divorce rate in the United States shows roughly half of all marriages end in divorce.
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Many people will divorce and remarry multiple times. According to The Washington Post&#8217;s review of court records, the suspect&#8217;s parents first married in 2011, about two years after she was born. All social science demonstrates that living together before marriage is often a bad idea because it is an indication that people are not willing to make the commitment to marry before having a child.
Marriage should be the predicate for sleeping together and then having children. I acknowledge these are old-fashioned ideas, but they existed for a reason, just as social institutions did. It was deemed a smart idea to get married before living together because it channeled sexual passions into family building.
A man had to give up his waywardness and make a commitment to a woman before getting one of the things he wanted out of the relationship with the woman. And it meant a woman would have to be pretty discerning about just with whom she chose to have sex, as doing so could result in pregnancy.
The opposite perspective has been quite bad for the West in general. We have declining birth rates, unhappy families, broken families. None of this has been a boon to the West as a general matter, despite all of the West&#8217;s promises that a libertarian sexual ethos would make everyone happier.
Zero evidence exists that a libertarian sexual ethos makes everyone happier. General happiness surveys across the West show a radical decline since the 1970s, particularly among women who are supposed to be the people most liberated by the new sexual ethos.
In this particular case, the mother of the suspect had been previously married and divorced; then, she had another daughter with a different man, to whom she was never married. Court records indicate this girl had other permanent legal guardians. The half sister is now 20-years-old. The suspect&#8217;s parents divorced for the first time in 2014, agreeing to joint legal custody of their shared daughter, but specifying she would live primarily with her mom.
From the Post:
<blockquote>The couple remarried in 2017 and divorced for a second time in 2020, again agreeing to share custody but, the court records show, dividing [the suspect’s] time more evenly between them. During this period, [the suspect] would spend two days with her father, two with her mother, then three more with her father, before reversing the schedule the following week.
Shortly after [the suspect’s] parents split up for the second time, the couple remarried once more. But by April 2021 they were petitioning for a third divorce. A judge granted it a month later but noted that “parties [were] admonished concerning remarriage,” according to court records.
After seeking mediation to determine custody of [the suspect], they agreed in July 2022 that they would share legal custody but that the girl would now live mostly with her father. By this time, [the suspect] had been enrolled in therapy, which was supposed to help guide decisions about which parent she would spend weekends with, the records show. 
The 2022 custody papers said [the suspect’s] parents were on cordial terms. “The parents report a generally positive co-parenting relationship,” the document reads, “and will continue to communicate with one another by text messages and phone conversations.” </blockquote>
Let&#8217;s get real: It doesn&#8217;t matter if mommy and daddy get along when they&#8217;re not living together. What matters is the impact on the child.
This is what happens when the actual value of marriage is substituted for a transitory perception of passion and romance. Marriage is not built predominantly on feelings. It is predominantly built on duty. 
I know this is a strange idea to many people who are living in the post-modern West. But the reality of the world is that marriage was built on commitment.
Marriage itself is an institution that requires fealty to the institution, not merely to the other person who is part of the institution. This bizarre notion that marriage was supposed to be about a sort-of formalization of romantic love as opposed to a shared value system that was capable of building the next generation is a wrong idea.
And it has been a mistake for the West to embrace that.
Romance is an enormous part of marriage. But it is not the chiefly important part of marriage when children become secondary as opposed to the primary purpose. Not only is marriage defeated, but the children are also defeated.
The idea of romance being the primary focus of marriage took hold during the Romantic Period in the 19th century. But it turned out that human biology thwarted the plans of romantic love to overcome the institution of marriage. The institution, like all institutions built by civilization, was built by human beings in order to channel human passions. Then, they were made sacred by human beings in order to civilize their passions.
We build entire civilizations in order to channel those passions in positive directions. One of the most fervent passions people have is the passion for sexual relationships. It&#8217;s very powerful.
It can also be incredibly destructive. This is why marriage is such an important institution. The institution of marriage channels that passion toward the production and rearing of children, as opposed to simply leaving little boys and girls all over the landscape without proper mothers and fathers in functioning households.
Treating women poorly is what happens in a free-love system, which is how women currently feel. They feel men treat them like trash.
And many of the men are looking at the system saying it’s a consensual system. What&#8217;s the problem?
The answer is that the consent women are typically looking for is not merely sexual consent. It is consent to a long-term relationship that is meaningful, spiritual, and purposeful.
When a society lacks these things, the result is tremendous human suffering, true human suffering.
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This belief in a concept of “free divorce, easy living, get back together, break up, get back together, break up, find new partners, and the kids will just be fine, because, you know, kids can take it,” is a blight.
The kids can take it? No, you can take it. You&#8217;re the adult.
Is what happened in the school shooting the parents’ fault? Given the fact they were living the way they lived, it’s a reasonable question.
If you treat your children like a bizarre form of chattel, shuttling them between parent and parent because you want to live your best life, guess what? Things go wrong.
Once you have kids, you are no longer first priority. You&#8217;re not even second priority. As a father, you’re third priority. First priority: your kids. Second priority: your wife. And then comes you.
A disproportionate number of people who commit these types of acts are children of broken homes. And it turns out a disproportionate number of people who commit violent crimes are also products of broken homes.
Longstanding social science data indicates delinquency radically increases when no father is present in the home. Crime radically increases; teenage pregnancy radically increases.
This is what happens when a society decides it is very important to disengage from the institutions and civilization that channeled passions and, instead, just humor those passions and let everything else be left by the wayside.
I think the American people are ready for a serious conversation about what the good life looks like. There&#8217;s a lot of talk in politics these days about the common good and what we all hold together. What is it? What is sacred? What ought to be put beyond political debate?
It used to be beyond political debate that family comes first.
I think the American people are tired of all this, tired of the deep libertarian sexual ethos. I think we are in the middle of what could be a cultural renaissance.
That kinship principle — to be with your family in your home, to raise your children so that their children will have healthy children, to build familial wealth over the course of generations, to sit on the porch when you&#8217;re 80 years old with your grandkids playing in the yard, to know you lived a good, dutiful, purposeful life and will continue contributing to future generations — that is what Americans yearn for.
Because without it, the country falls apart.

Wedding cake visual metaphor with figurine cake toppers

No, Divorce Isn’t ‘Fine For The Kids’

No, Divorce Isn't 'Fine For The Kids'

Ben Shapiro

Children

divorce

Family Values

Fathers

Marriage

Opinion

Parenting

Western Civilization

Madison, Wisconsin, police are looking into a possible manifesto or letter written by the 15-year-old female shooter who killed a classmate and a teacher and wounded several others before turning the gun on herself at Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS) on Monday morning.
Police revealed the identity of the shooter, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, during a Monday night press conference. The teen girl used a handgun that police recovered from the scene and was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/madison-wisconsin-school-shooting-12-17-24#cm4sfhux10005356mw8v2ikhl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> on Tuesday that authorities &#8220;have been made aware of a manifesto &#8230; or some type of letter that’s been posted by someone who alleged to be her friend.&#8221;
&#8220;We haven’t been able to locate that person yet, but that’s something we’re going to work on today,&#8221; Barnes added.
Social media posts have circulated claiming to reveal what the shooter wrote before the fatal shootings, but so far, police have not confirmed the authenticity of any alleged manifesto. The police chief also addressed unsubstantiated claims that have spread on social media claiming that the shooter identified as transgender. Barnes said on Monday night that authorities &#8220;don&#8217;t know&#8221; whether the shooter &#8220;was transgender or not.&#8221;
&#8220;And quite frankly, I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s even important,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s important at all. I don&#8217;t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify and I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this.&#8221;
&#8220;So whether or not she was, he was, they were transgender — it&#8217;s something that may come out later, but for what we&#8217;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,&#8221; the chief added. &#8220;And so I would encourage people to be responsible with your social media.&#8221;
ALCS was beginning its last week before Christmas break. The school <a href="https://www.alcs.us/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offers</a> education for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Police searched the home of the shooter&#8217;s parents with their consent on Monday evening, FOX&#8217;s Madison affiliate WMSN <a href="https://fox47.com/news/local/alcs-shooter-home-searched-shooters-parents-are-cooperating-police-say#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;We’ll also be looking through her effects – if she had a computer or cell phone – to see if there are any transmissions between her and someone else,&#8221; Barnes added.
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The chief said the parents &#8220;are fully cooperating,&#8221; and there is &#8220;no reason to believe that they have committed a crime at this time.&#8221;
Barnes initially stated that the first 911 call was made by a second-grader, but he clarified on Tuesday that the first call came from a second-grade teacher at the school around 10:57 a.m. after the shooter opened fire in a classroom during study hall, and police responded within minutes. Upon entering the school, officers found that the shooter was already dead and immediately began life-saving efforts on the wounded. Six people, including a teacher, were transported to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening. Two of the victims have been released from the hospital.
A teacher and a teenage student were pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting. Authorities have not revealed the identities of the victims as they wait for family members to be informed first. Pastor Chris Dolson, who spoke at a vigil on Monday night, said that one of the dead was a substitute teacher who came to work after another teacher called in sick, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/madison-wisconsin-school-shooting-what-we-know/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
This story has been updated with additional information.

Police Looking Into Possible Writings Belonging To Wisconsin School Shooter

The Madison, Wisconsin, Police Department is waiting to release any &#8220;identifying&#8221; information about the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/multiple-injuries-reported-after-shooter-opens-fire-at-christian-school-in-wisconsin?topStoryPosition=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shooter</a> who killed two people and wounded several others at Abundant Life Christian School Monday morning.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a press conference on Monday afternoon that authorities identified the shooter as a &#8220;teenage student who attended the school,&#8221; but he added, &#8220;At this time, we are not releasing the age or gender of the student or any other identifying remarks of the student.&#8221;
&#8220;As difficult as today is, that&#8217;s still someone&#8217;s child that&#8217;s gone. That&#8217;s still someone that has to deal with what happened today. So we just want to ensure as much cooperation as we can,&#8221; Barnes said, adding, &#8220;What I will tell you is as soon as we are done with this investigation what we uncover that will not compromise the safety of anyone involved or compromise the confidentiality of any of these children that are involved, we will tell you. I just ask for your patience.&#8221;
Shortly after the press conference, a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/abundant-life-christian-school-shooting-madison-12-16-24#cm4rixcdz001h3b6nheyms7di" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> that the shooter was a female.
The victims who died were identified as a teacher and a teenage student. At least seven other people were wounded in the shooting. At a press conference shortly after the shooting, police falsely reported that five people including the shooter were killed, but later said that information was “erroneously shared.”
Barnes said that authorities have already made contact with the shooter&#8217;s family, adding that the family is cooperating with the police.
The shooter used a handgun, according to Barnes. Responding officers found the shooter dead upon arriving at the scene and did not fire a shot after their arrival. Police immediately began rendering first aid to the wounded. Authorities urged anyone struggling with mental health issues as a result of the shooting to call the suicide and crisis hotline at 988.
ALCS, a small private Christian school, was beginning its last week before Christmas break. The school <a href="https://www.alcs.us/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offers</a> education for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. ALCS wrote on Facebook after the shooting, “Prayers Requested! 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. Please pray for our Challenger Family.”

Screenshot: Madison Police Department

‘I Ask For Your Patience’: Police Refuse To Release Info Of Shooter Who Targeted Christian School

'I Ask For Your Patience': Police Refuse To Release Info Of Shooter Who Targeted Christian School

At least two people were killed and seven others were wounded after a &#8220;juvenile&#8221; opened fire at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, according to police. The Madison Police Department initially reported that five people, including the shooter, were killed, but later <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MadisonPolice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that information was &#8220;erroneously shared.&#8221;
The shooter was found dead when officers arrived on the scene at 10:57 a.m. at Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS) and police immediately began life-saving efforts on the wounded, according to authorities. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said in a press conference that police believe the shooter was a student at the school, but he did not identify the shooter.
&#8220;The police department did not fire their weapons,&#8221; Barnes said.
The police chief did not say if the victims were students or teachers, saying that the immediate priority was notifying families. Barnes said that the injuries range from minor to life-threatening.
ALCS was beginning its last week before Christmas break. The school <a href="https://www.alcs.us/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offers</a> education for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. ALCS wrote on Facebook after the shooting, &#8220;Prayers Requested! 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. Please pray for our Challenger Family.&#8221;
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Police Blockade

UPDATE: At Least 2 Killed After Shooter Opens Fire At Christian School In Wisconsin

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