Warped Wisconsin School Shooter Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow's 'Target' Revealed — As Survivor's Mom Tells How Psycho Teen Stomped Around in Combat Boots and Pounded Energy Drinks
The 15-year-old killed a student and a teacher before taking her own life during the rampage.
Dec. 18 2024, Published 1:33 p.m. ET
The Wisconsin School Shooter's actual "target" has been revealed by the mother of a survivor.
Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow's intended target may have been a study hall teacher, who was not there due to a "planned absence", RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Rupnow may have been targeting the regular study hall teacher during her rampage at Abundant Life Christian School.
On Monday, the 15-year-old killed a student, a teacher, and then herself at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. Six others were injured in the shooting, with two left in "life-threatening" condition.
Lyndsay O'Connor, whose kids were at the school during the shooting, revealed just how much more tragic the incident could have been, as Rupnow walked right past her daughter Mackenzie's classroom, but continued on to the study hall where she eventually opened fire.
O'Connor told Wisconsin Right Now: "Mackenzie said she walked by our door; she went to that room", and speculated the absent study hall teacher may have been the teen's target.
She said: "We don't know if her target was the original teacher or just the kids in the class. She would have had to walk by the door and the door was open."
O'Connor also praised the teacher who died in the shoot, who was filling in for the day: "The teacher died protecting her class. Many more lives could have been taken. [Rupnow] sent off multiple rounds."
According to O'Connor, her daughter MacKenzie was "weirded out" by Rupnow but had tried to make friends: "She was very much to herself. She wore a collared shirt with a tie, jeans, and combat boots", and said the shooter's style as an "odd version of preppy, not goth".
The 15-year-old killed a student, a teacher, and herself during the shooting.
O'Connor also revealed Rupnow described herself as a loaner, and believes the teenager was "very isolated", but had a clique at school.
She continued: "They would wear white shirts and black ties. A weird group. She didn't keep a tidy locker... [Rupnow] pounded energy drinks. Little shots of energy things, and she kept to herself."
O'Connor believes the Rupnow "died a broken girl. She died unheard, and she found solace in a bunch of people who didn't promote goodness".
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes recently revealed it is unclear if Rupnow targeted anyone specifically as O'Connor believes, and added: "Everyone was targeted in this incident. Everyone was put in equal danger."
Investigators are also examining Rupnow's digital footprint and looking into a manifesto she may have left behind.
Rupnow allegedly laid out her plans in a six-page manifesto posted online, which features several bombshell claims. In the document, viewed by RadarOnline.com, she tells how she always planned to kill herself but believed it was "better for evolution" to take out others too, rather than "one stupid, boring suicide".
She also name-dropped school shooter Pekka Eric Auvinen, an 18-year-old student who went on a rampage at his school in southern Finland, killing seven teenagers.
The teen once wore the same shirt as Columbine High School killer Eric Harris.
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The Madison school shooting also has an eerie connection to the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado 25 years ago, as a photo reveals Rupnow once wore the same shirt as Columbine killer Eric Harris.
In a past online post, Rupnow shared a mirror-reflection selfie wearing a shirt celebrating German rock band KMFDM – the same shirt Harris was photographed wearing before the Columbine tragedy.
During the ensuing investigation, it was discovered Harris had a special affection for KMFDM, also known as Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, which loosely translates to "no pity for the majority".
On April 20, 1999, Harris, 18, and his friend Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire inside Columbine High School, killing 12 students and one teacher and wounding 23 others before killing themselves.
