A 20-year-old California man was detained for allegedly planning a mass shooting at a government building in a parallel and coordinated attack with the teenage girl who gunned down two people at a Wisconsin Christian school on Monday, according to a report.
Alexander Paffendorf, of Carlsbad, exchanged messages with Natalie âSamanthaâ Rupnow, 15, about targeting a local government building while she shot up the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, according to a gun violence restraining order obtained by CBS 8.
“During an FBI interview, Paffendorf admitted to the FBI agents that he told Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” the two-page emergency restraining order from the Carlsbad Police Department states.
The civil order doesn’t say which building he allegedly planned to strike or details of his conversations with Rupnow, who killed herself after shooting dead a substitute teacher, 42-year-old Erin West, and fellow student, 14-year-old freshman Rubi Vergara, at the school she attended.
A San Diego Superior Court Judge approved the order under California’s red flag gun law Tuesday night, according to the local California news station. The order requires Paffendorf to turn over all guns and ammunition to police within 48 hours or less.
Soon after the judge approved the emergency order, more than a dozen police cars pulled up outside Paffendorf’s home, neighbors told CBS 8.
“They had their full guns out all over the street,” neighbor Alex Gallegos told the station. “There were cop cars. I’d say about 15 cops here.”
He said he watched them carry out a large gun box from the home.
The messages between Paffendorf and Rupnow could provide some insight to the high school freshman’s motivation to commit a school shooting. Investigators are still searching for a motive for the deadly violence.
In addition to the two fatal victims, Rupnow shot and wounded five other students and one other teacher. Two of the students remain in critical condition.
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