What’s New
A manifesto reportedly written by Natalie Rupnow, the 15-year-old student who opened fire inside the Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin on Monday, is circulating on social media.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said authorities are aware of the document, but have been unable to verify its authenticity. “We haven’t been able to verify that it’s authentic. We’re certainly aware that it’s been posted and the person who posted it alleged to have a connection with the victim,” Barnes said.
He said authorities have not located the person who posted it, but have shared information with the FBI.
The X, formerly Twitter, user who posted the manifesto on their account said they had received it from Rupnow’s boyfriend. Newsweek has contacted the user for comment via direct message.
The author identified themselves as Samantha Rupnow, according to screenshots posted on X. Police have said Rupnow went by that name.
In the manifesto, called “War Against Humanity,” the author writes that they have “grown to hate people, and society” and calls their parents “scum.”
The author also writes that they acquired weapons “by lies and manipulation, and my father’s stupidity” and describes wanting to die by suicide, but feeling like carrying out a shooting was “better for evolution rather than just one stupid boring suicide.”
Why It Matters
Rupnow was identified as the shooter during a press conference on Monday night.
She was found with a self-inflicted gunshot when officers arrived at the school and died en route to a hospital, Barnes said. She was a student at the school, which has about 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The manifesto—if authentic—could provide insight into the shooter’s motive. Barnes had said on Monday that a motive for the shooting was not immediately known and that it was not clear if the victims were targeted.
The shooting is the latest at a school in the U.S. and comes less than two weeks after a shooter opened fire at a Christian school in California. There have been at least 200 incidents of gunfire on school grounds this year, resulting in 58 deaths, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Particularly deadly shootings have set off debates about gun control and how to keep schools safe, but have done little to impact national gun laws.
What To Know
Officers arrived at the school at around 11 a.m. on Monday in response to a second-grade student’s 911 call, Barnes said.
A teacher and another teenager were killed in the shooting at a study hall at the school. Rupnow also wounded six others, including two students who were in critical condition, police said.
A teacher and three other students were taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them were later discharged.
What People Are Saying
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said on X: “I’m directing flags across the state to be immediately lowered to half-staff as we honor those whose lives were senselessly taken in this tragedy.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement: “We need Congress to act. Now. From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that don’t receive attention—it is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept it as normal… Congress must pass commonsense gun safety laws: Universal background checks. A national red flag law. A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart.”
Trish Kilpin, the director of the Office of School Safety at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, said during Monday’s news conference: “Targeted violence is preventable. When somebody decides to use violence, it’s often to redress an upset or a grievance, and they progress down a pathway towards that violence, and when they do that, they often study previous school shooting incidents. So I implore you all to be responsible in terms of how we report this. We do not want to give a blueprint of a manifesto to future people who are thinking of solving their upset with violence.”
What’s Next
Barnes said detectives have spoken with the shooter’s father and other family members on Monday and searched the shooter’s home.
The school was being monitored by police overnight. “At this time, no one is allowed on school property,” the police department said in a press release.
The post Natalie Rupnow’s Reported Manifesto: What We Know appeared first on Newsweek.
