The shooter who killed a student and a teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to school and had contact with a man in California who authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday. .
Madison Police Chief Shawn Barnes said police were still investigating what led the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison to fatally shoot a fellow student and teacher on Monday before turning the gun on herself. The other two students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
“We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we will do our best to try to add or provide as much information as we can to our audience,” Barnes said.
Meanwhile, a California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s red flag gun law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires a man to turn over his guns and ammunition to police within 48 hours unless an officer requests it sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
According to the warrant, the man told FBI agents that he was sending messages to Natalie Rubino, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order did not mention which building it targeted or when it planned to launch its attack. He also does not detail his interactions with Rubino except to suggest that the man was planning a mass shooting with her.
Ruby Vergara, as seen in the photo accompanying her obituary.
Gunderson Funeral Home
The student killed in a school shooting Monday was identified in an obituary released Wednesday as Ruby Patricia Vergara14, Madison. She was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, who loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” the obituary said. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the girl’s family by phone and email Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.
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The Dane County Medical Examiner on Wednesday evening identified the teacher who was killed as 42-year-old Erin Michelle West, after initially identifying her as Michelle E. West. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for West in public records hung up when a reporter reached him Wednesday evening.
Teacher Erin Michelle West, as seen in her photo at Abundant Life Christian School.
Abundant Christian Life School
Vergara has attended the school since kindergarten, the school’s director of communications, Barbara Wears, said in a statement Wednesday evening.
West worked as a substitute teacher for three years before accepting the position of substitute school coordinator and substitute teacher within the building, Werz said.
“Our hearts are heavy with these losses,” Wiers wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Police, with assistance from the FBI, are examining online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and associates to try to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes said.
The chief said police do not know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack was planned in advance.
“I don’t know if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week before,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is something that was planned. So we don’t know what was premeditated.”
While Robinau had two handguns, Barnes said he did not know how she obtained them and declined to say who bought them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made on whether Robinau’s parents could be charged in connection with the shooting, but they have been cooperative, Barnes said.
Online court records do not show any criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rubino, or her mother, Melissa Rubino. They are divorced and share custody of their daughter, but she lived primarily with her father, according to court documents. Divorce records indicate Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don’t say why.
The school shootings were the latest of dozens across the United States in recent years, including particularly deadly attacks in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
But the Wisconsin shooting stands out because school shootings by teenage girls were extremely rare in the United States, with most carried out by males in their teens and 20s, said David Redman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database. Twelfth grade.
Abundant Life is a non-denominational Christian school offering classes in pre-K through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
