The father of a teenage girl who fatally shot two people at her private Christian school in Wisconsin last year was arrested early Thursday morning.
Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, of Madison, was taken into custody around 3:45 a.m., according to police. He has been charged with two counts of providing a weapon to a minor resulting in death, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a child.
All three charges are felonies and each is punishable by up to six years in prison.
Rupnow’s 15-year-old daughter, Natalie, shot and killed one student and one teacher at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Dec. 16, 2024. She also wounded six more people in the attack before dying by suicide.
Investigators previously said Natalie Rupnow brought two guns into the school that day. How she obtained those weapons was a key part of their investigation.
In a series of documents and messages, Rupnow described how she convinced her father to buy her two guns, according to court records released last week. Investigators have not discussed a clear motive for the attack, which occurred at the nondenominational school for grades K-12.
Jeffrey Rupnow is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Friday. He’s now one of several parents to be charged in connection with a child’s mass shooting.
In Michigan, James and Jennifer Crumbley were both sentenced to 10-15 years in prison for giving their 15-year-old son, Ethan, the gun he used to kill four students at his suburban Detroit high school.
In Georgia, Colin Gray was charged alongside his 14-year-old son, Colt, for the killings of four people at Colt’s suburban Atlanta high school. And outside Chicago, Robert Crimo Jr. served 60 days in jail in connection with the Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park carried out by his son, Robert Crimo III.
With News Wire Services
