Natalie Rupnow

Natalie Lynn Rupnow (also called "Samantha" in some accounts; born November 7, 2009, Madison, Wisconsin) attacked Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on December 16, 2024, killing substitute teacher Erin M. West (42) and fellow student Rubi P. Vergara (14) and wounding six others before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot while being transported to hospital. She was 15 years old. Investigators recovered a manifesto titled "War Against Humanity" from her home describing humanity as "filth" and expressing admiration for past mass shooters. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) documented that her radicalization pathway ran from the WatchPeopleDie gore website through 764-affiliated and Terrorgram Collective-adjacent content. She had joined the Telegram group that Arda Küçükyetim created to livestream his August 2024 Eskisehir mosque stabbing. Her account on the WatchPeopleDie website traced to June 2023, the same month that Nashville's Antioch High School shooter Solomon Henderson created his own account on the same platform; the two had followed each other on X.¹

Radicalization Pathway

Investigators and ISD researchers documented that Rupnow held 16 social media accounts, nearly all containing references to past mass shooters. The ISD classified her primarily as a nihilistic violent extremist motivated by participation in the True Crime Community (TCC) fandom and the SAVF (Soyjak Attacker Video Fandom) subculture, both of which treat mass killers as cultural figures for consumption and glorification.

Her documented extremist network engagements included the WatchPeopleDie gore website (joined June 2023), 764-affiliated content, and a Telegram group connected to Küçükyetim's August 2024 Eskisehir attack livestream, which was itself affiliated with Terrorgram Collective. The ADL documented that her radicalization pathway ran from WatchPeopleDie through white supremacist, misogynistic, and antisemitic online spaces.

The shared June 2023 WatchPeopleDie registration dates and mutual follow between Rupnow and Solomon Henderson placed both individuals in the same online milieu approximately 18 months before their respective attacks. PBS Wisconsin reported that their online presence overlapped in at least the WatchPeopleDie and X contexts. Nashville Metropolitan Police Department's January 2026 investigation into Henderson found no evidence of co-conspirators or direct coordination between them.²

Attack and Weapons

The attack occurred in a mixed-grade study hall at Abundant Life Christian School during school hours on December 16, 2024. Rupnow used firearms owned by her father, Jeffrey Rupnow (43), who kept them in a safe but had shared the combination with her. The day before the attack, he removed a Sig Sauer pistol from the safe and asked her to clean it. Six students and one teacher sustained additional wounds beyond the two who were killed.

Two students were hospitalized in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. Rupnow died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while being transported to hospital.

Legal Outcomes

Because Rupnow died at the scene, she faced no criminal proceedings. In May 2025, Dane County prosecutors charged her father Jeffrey Rupnow on two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A Dane County Court Commissioner ordered him to stand trial on July 24, 2025. The charges carry a combined maximum of 18 years in prison.

Rupnow's mother died of an apparent suicide following the shooting.³