The father of a teenage school shooter is facing felony charges for allowing her to have access to the firearm used in the killings.
Jeffrey Rupnow, the father of 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, is now subject to charges over his attempts to bond with his daughter through firearms, while she was carefully planning the shooting at her high school. She even built a cardboard model of the school in preparation. She had also written a document called “War against Humanity,” in which she expressed her anger at her parents for getting divorced.
The father was arrested on Thursday and taken to Dane County Hail. He faces two counts of giving a dangerous weapon to a person under the age of 18, causing death, and contributing to the delinquency of a child. The charges are all felonies.
Natalie Rupnow entered Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin on 16 December 2024 and opened fire in a study hall, killing one student and a teacher. Six others were wounded. Rupnow then turned the gun on herself and committed suicide.
Police recovered a handgun from the scene that Jeffrey Rupnow had bought for his daughter. Although he told police he kept the pistol in a safe, his daughter knew the code. The day before the attack, he had allowed her to retrieve the pistol and clean it, and said he wasn’t sure if she had put it back.
About ten days before the attack, he joked with a friend via text message that his daughter would kill him if he left “the fun safe open right now.”
This is not the first time a parent has been charged for their child’s role in carrying out a school shooting.
In 2021, the parents of Ethan Crumbley were both sentenced to 10-15 years for manslaughter after their son killed four classmates. Robert Crimo Jr was also charged and convicted for the attack carried out by his son, Robert Crimo III, at Highland Park.