Abundant Life Christian School shooting

Abundant Life Christian School is a private Christian K–12 school founded in 1978. The building is located next to the City Church Madison and shares a campus with the Campus for Kids Learning Center, an infant to kindergarten center in addition to the church. Children from about 200 families are enrolled in the school, which had about 390 students enrolled at the time of the shooting. ==Shooting==

The shooting occurred inside of a classroom used as a study hall. The Madison Police Department received a 911 call from a second-grade teacher inside the school at 10:57a.m. CST. The shooting was in a mixed age and grade study hall. Rupnow was armed with two handguns during the shooting, but only used one of them. Law enforcement arrived at the school and found the shooter dead at 11:05 a.m., from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect was initially reported as a teenage juvenile and a student at the school. None of the responding officers fired their weapons. After an initial sweep of the school, police officials reported that there was no further threat to the public. A public safety alert was sent to nearby phones at around 11:20 a.m. Rupnow carried two pistols (a 9mm Glock 19 Gen4 and .22 caliber Sig Sauer P322), five 9mm magazines, three .22-caliber magazines, and a box containing 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition. She wore a black T-shirt inscribed with a bullseye. ==Victims==

During an initial news conference, officials from the Madison Police Department reported that the death toll was five people, but later amended their report and said that three people, including the suspected shooter, were dead. Six people were injured, two critically. Four patients from the shooting were treated at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, according to a spokesperson for the hospital. Two of the injured victims were later discharged. The other two patients remained hospitalized but were in stable condition. ==Perpetrator==

T-shirt similar in style to one occasionally worn by Columbine shooter Eric Harris|226x226px Natalie Lynn "Samantha" Rupnow (November 7, 2009 – December 16, 2024), a 15-year-old female student at the school, was identified by a law enforcement official as the perpetrator. Rupnow lived in the Madison metropolitan area for the entirety of her life, with family ties in both Friesland and Randolph, Wisconsin. Her parents were both divorced and re-married twice. She had been enrolled in therapy by July 2022, which was supposed to help guide decisions about which parent with whom she would spend weekends. Following multiple lewd messages from the man, he arranged to meet Rupnow, which he did on at least one occasion. This man's relationship with Rupnow was eventually discovered, and police charged him with child enticement. He wrote in a Facebook comment that they had joined the club that spring and had been "loving every second of it". Rupnow's father told police that her interest in firearms had "snowballed" and that he had informed her of the combination to his gun safe where he kept her firearms. On Telegram, she had been invited to a group chat in which the perpetrator of the 2024 Eskişehir mosque stabbing had posted his manifesto shortly before committing his attack. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Rupnow was found to possibly have a TikTok account with white supremacist memes and a bio that used the phrase "Totally nice day", which is sometimes used as a racist dog whistle by white supremacists as a code for "TND" (which stands in turn for "Total Nigger Death"). A photo emerged of her wearing a KMFDM T-shirt similar to the shirt that Eric Harris, one of the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, wore in various amateur videos. According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, their research on Rupnow indicated that she "was primarily motivated by her [membership in the] TCC (True Crime Community) fandom"; they described her as a nihilistic violent extremist. ==Aftermath==

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County hosted a candlelight vigil the day after the shooting at the state capitol grounds. A memorial was set up on a sidewalk near the school to honor the victims of the shooting. Former students among others brought offerings such as poinsettia flowers to the memorial. On December 18, an obituary for Vergara was published online by a local funeral home. Her funeral service was held on December 21 at City Church in Madison. On August 1, 2025, Rupnow's mother, Mellissa Rupnow, was found dead from an apparent suicide. == Investigation ==

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was at the scene following the shooting. A spokesperson said the Bureau recovered the 9mm caliber handgun used in the shooting and was running a trace on it. Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spoke to the perpetrator's family and students to attempt to find a motive. The perpetrator's family cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation. Chief Barnes said he was aware that the alleged manifesto, claimed to be from the shooter, was circulating on the internet, but he could not confirm its authenticity. He also said that he has requested that the ATF expedite their investigation into the shooter's whereabouts and method of obtaining the firearm. He was unsure if her parents owned or had possession of the weapon. On December 17, Barnes told news reporters that investigators are looking into a "combination of factors," including the possibility that Rupnow had been bullied. While searching Rupnow's home, officers found a cardboard model of the school, maps, and a schedule of the attack, beginning with her opening fire at 11:30 a.m., "wiping out" the first and second floors of the school, and then ending the attack at 12:10 p.m. with the note "ready 4 Death." Potential conspirators and copycats On December 18, 20-year-old Alexander Paffendorf from Carlsbad, California, was detained by FBI agents in connection with the shooting. He was suspected of coordinating a mass shooting at a government building in conjunction with Rupnow. Allegedly, he told Rupnow that he "would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would start shooting in a government building." It is currently unclear how Paffendorf and Rupnow knew each other; the FBI declined to comment on this situation. As a result of his statements and admissions, a gun violence emergency protective (restraining) order approved by a San Diego County judge was served on Paffendorf. The order requires Paffendorf to turn over firearms and not to possess any guns while the order is in effect. On January 3, 2025, Paffendorf appeared via video in the San Diego County Superior Court for a restraining order hearing. He apologized for his connection to the shooting, expressed regret for his actions, and said he was willing to face the repercussions of his actions. The judge postponed the hearing until April 4 because Paffendorf is under criminal investigation and did not yet have an attorney. On April 28, a three-year restraining order was granted. Rupnow followed the X account of 17-year-old student Solomon Henderson, who went on to open fire at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 22, 2025, killing one student and injuring another before committing suicide. On April 29, 2025, 22-year-old Damien Allen from Loxahatchee, Florida, was arrested by police for plotting seven separate mass shootings at seven different locations, including at least one police station and a church. He was found to have exchanged messages with Rupnow prior to her death. Allen was also found to be in possession of 18 firearms and over 12,000 rounds of ammunition. On August 27, 2025, 23-year-old Robin Westman carried out a mass shooting at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing two children and injuring 30 other people before committing suicide. She had written Rupnow's last name on the gun used in the shooting. On September 10, 2025, 16-year-old student Desmond Holly opened fire at Evergreen High School, injuring two students before committing suicide. He idolized Rupnow online and took a photo of himself imitating her before the shooting. In November 2025, a 15-year-old boy was detained in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after he made a threat on TikTok against a local school, timed to occur on the same date as the ALCS shooting. ==Reactions==

President Joe Biden condemned the incident as "shocking and unconscionable" in a statement. He called on Congress to take immediate action to address gun violence, emphasizing the need for stronger protections for children in schools. He advocated for Congress to pass gun safety laws including universal background checks, a national red flag law in addition to a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Wisconsin senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson posted separate statements on social media offering their condolences and prayers to all the victims, and said they would continue to monitor the situation and assist law enforcement as needed. Shortly after the shooting, the school's Facebook page posted that they had had an active shooter incident and are asking for prayers. At the vigil, Madison Metropolitan School District superintendent Joe Gothard said that the tragedy occurred less than two blocks from his childhood home. He claimed saying that the district would improve safety was insufficient. He said, "We need to connect like we are tonight, each and every day and make a commitment that we know we're there for one another, hopefully to avoid preventable tragedies like yesterday." ==See also==