The shooter who killed A student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and had contact with a man in California who authorities say planned to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents made public Wednesday.
Police are still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison fatally shot a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press on Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition Wednesday.
A Southern California judge on Tuesday issued a restraining order under California’s gun law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to surrender his weapons and ammunition to police within 48 hours unless an officer requests it sooner, because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the warrant, the man told FBI agents that he had texted Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin gunman, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order does not say which building he targeted or when he planned to carry out his attack. It also provides no details about his interactions with Rupnow, other than to say the man plotted a mass shooting with her.
San Diego-based CBS affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement officers searched the man’s home Tuesday evening after the warrant was signed by the judge.
Police, with the help of the FBI, searched online records and other sources and spoke to the shooter’s parents and classmates in an effort to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police do not know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if it was planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting took place in a study hall classroom and involved students from several grades.
“I don’t know if she planned it that day or a week earlier,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a city of Madison website detailing the shooting, police announced Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News that the weapon used appears to have been a 9mm handgun.
Barnes told the AP he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the weapons and declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decision has been made yet on whether Rupnow’s parents could be charged in connection with the shooting, but they have been cooperative, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a non-denominational Christian school offering kindergarten through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two murdered people Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site said Vergara was a college freshman who is survived by her parents, a brother and a large family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position at the school was unclear.
