Madison school shooting; Natalie Rupnow, what we know about her
MADISON, Wis. - Who is 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow – and how did she end up at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison?
On Tuesday, Dec. 17, FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn was in the neighborhood where law enforcement blew the front door off a house on Monday – while executing a search warrant. A family friend was seen working to secure that front door.
Neighbors tell FOX6 News Rupnow lived at that home with her father for years. The 15-year-old was the only child of divorced parents, Jeffrey and Melissa Rupnow. Court records show her parents have been married and divorced twice since 2014. They maintained joint legal custody of Natalie. But in 2022, her father was given primary placement.
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Records show Natalie was seeing a therapist, though the reason was not specified.
A longtime neighbor from across the street said he has known Natalie since she was a little girl.
"What can you tell me about her personality?" asked Polcyn.
"Well, I haven’t seen her a lot close up in the last year, but she was always nice. She was always talkative, and I always thought she was a great little kid," said Art Zogbaum, a neighbor.
"Did she ever seem like the kind of person who would do something like this?" Polcyn inquired.
"No. Shocked the living hell out of me," Zogbaum replied.
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According to court records, Natalie Rupnow previously attended public school in the Madison Metropolitan School District at Gompers Elementary and Black Hawk Middle School. It is not clear when she moved to the private school. But the neighbor FOX6 News talked to said her father moved her there because he thought it would be a better place for her.