Teen gunman in Wisconsin leaves tragic legacy of violence
On December 16, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow was responsible for a mass shooting at her school in Wisconsin, United States. Her alleged "manifesto" appeared on social media.
On December 16 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow shot herself at the private Abundant Life Christian School. Earlier, the teenager opened fire on her peers and teachers, killing two people and injuring six others. The attacker died on the way to the hospital.
The alleged "manifesto" of Natalie Rupnow
A "manifesto" attributed to Natalie Rupnow, who also used the name "Samantha," appeared on platform X. According to the BBC, on December 17, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes was aware of the document's existence, but its authenticity had not yet been confirmed. Anna Slatz published it from the Reduxx portal, who claimed to have received it from Natalie Rupnow's online boyfriend. The couple had been in an online relationship for two years and had never met in person.
Reduxx is a portal that mainly publishes transphobic and racist content. This undermines Slatz's credibility as a source and raises the likelihood of her connecting with someone close to Rupnow, who also expressed hateful, racist, and xenophobic beliefs in the six-page "manifesto" attributed to her.
What motivated the 15-year-old mass killer?
The alleged manifesto of Natalie Rupnow explains the reasons for her actions in a chaotic, emotion-filled manner. Opening fire at the school was, for her, a form of extended suicide. She wrote, "I planned to shoot myself quite some time ago, but I thought maybe this [mass shooting – ed.] would be better for evolution than a stupid, boring suicide..." Rupnow stated, "I acquired the gun through lies, manipulation, and my father's stupidity."
On her father Jeff Rupnow's Facebook, a photo from August shows a person with long hair wearing protective headphones and aiming a gun at a target. One observer asked Rupnow, "Is that your kid?" to which he replied, "Sure is! We joined the NBSC this spring, and we're loving every second!" NBSC seems to refer to the North Bristol Sportsman's Club, a shooting range in Wisconsin.
Natalie Rupnow had poor relationships with family and peers
In the alleged manifesto, Natalie Rupnow described her relationships with her parents as poor. According to the 15-year-old, both had issues with psychoactive substances and showed her mainly indifference or hostility. Rupnow described symptoms of depression and panic attacks, which her mother allegedly did not address. About her father, she wrote, "My dad always criticizes me in the worst possible way, mentions my failures in school, or that I can’t get out of bed because I don’t want to go out."
According to the alleged manifesto, Natalie Rupnow was "mocked and bullied" at school. She wrote, "They always picked on me for being unusual, like being quiet was unusual and too weird for them or something." She added, "I changed schools, and what? They still pick on me; it's just not getting worse." Rupnow had no hope for change, stating, "I know it will always happen everywhere in my life, but it's still annoying."
The teen was "inspired" by previous mass killings
In the document, Rupnow also listed individuals who were a direct "inspiration" for her actions. About the 18-year-old Pekka Eric Auvinen, who killed eight people in a school shooting in Finland in 2007, she wrote, "I was born on November 7, 2009, exactly two years after Pekka's attack. Amazing, right?" Rupnow called Arda K., who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Turkey for stabbing five people in August 2024, a "true saint." The teenager also mentioned Vladislav Roslyakov, Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold among other mass teenage murderers.
The mass shooting in Madison was the 488th this year in the USA, according to the Gun Violence Archive portal, which collects data on such incidents. For many years, this number has translated to an average of two shootings every day. Nonetheless, the United States has not implemented federal regulations restricting access to firearms, which can be purchased there, even in supermarkets.
