The shooter who killed A student and teacher at a Wisconsin religious school brought two guns to school and came into contact with a man in California who planned to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents made public Wednesday .
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot a fellow student and a teacher Monday before killing himself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Wednesday , to the Associated Press. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition Wednesday.
A Southern California judge on Tuesday issued a restraining order under California gun law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to surrender his guns and ammunition to police within 48 hours, unless a police 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 order, the man told FBI agents he had sent a message to Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order did not specify which building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. He also does not detail his interactions with Rupnow, except to state that the man was planning a mass shooting with her.
CBS affiliate KFMB-TV in San Diego reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday evening after the judge signed the order.
Police, with help from the FBI, were combing through online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates to try to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police do not know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack was planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting happened in a classroom where a study hall involving students from multiple grades was taking place.
“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 planning. And so we don’t know what premeditation is.”
On a city of Madison website providing details about the shooting, police revealed Wednesday that two firearms 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 pistol.
Barnes told the AP he did not know how the alleged shooter obtained the weapons and he declined to say who bought them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decision has been made 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 nondenominational Christian school that offers classes from kindergarten through high school. Approximately 420 students attend the institution.
Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as Erin West, 42, and Rubi Vergara, 14.
An online obituary at a local burial site said Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, a brother and a large extended family. He described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, sang and played keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position within the school was unclear.
