TROUBLED HOME LIFE

Madison School Shooter’s Parents Divorced Each Other Three Times

Natalie Rupnow was reportedly enrolled in therapy after her parents divorced each other for the third time.

The 15-year-old girl who opened fire at her school in Madison, Wisconsin that killed two people and wounded six others, had a troubled home life according to court records obtained by The Washington Post that detailed her parents repeatedly remarrying and divorcing each other.

Identified as a student of Abundant Life Christian School where the tragic shooting took place Monday, Natalie Rupnow—who preferred the name Samantha—died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire in a study hall classroom, police say.

While authorities have shared that her parents, Mellissa and Jeff Rupnow, have been cooperating with police, court records obtained by The Post show that Natalie was in therapy over the couple’s changing custody agreements.

According to the Post, court records detail that Jeff and Mellissa first married in 2011, around two years after Natalie was born. They divorced for the first time three years later in 2014, and agreed to have joint legal custody over Natalie but specified that she would primarily live with Mellissa.

The couple then got remarried in 2017 and divorced for the second time two years later in 2020. While they agreed to share custody again, court records show that their agreement this time around aimed to divide Natalie’s time more evenly between them.

Their custody arrangement during this time reportedly saw Natalie spending two days with her father, two days with her mother, then three more days with her father, with the schedule alternating weekly.

Shortly after their second split, Mellissa and Jeff remarried again for the third time but by April 2021 petitioned for their third and final divorce. According to court records, a judge granted the divorce a month later but said that the “parties [were] admonished concerning remarriage.”

By 2022, they agreed that they would share legal custody over Natalie but that she would now primarily live with her father. Around this time, Natalie was enrolled in therapy to help her decide which parent she wanted to spend weekends with, court records show. The New York Post adds that Natalie would have been 12-years-old at that time.

The couple’s most recent custody papers also showed that they were on cordial terms, stating that “the parents report a generally positive co-parenting relationship” and they would “continue to communicate with another by text messages and phone conversations.”

Natalie’s mother was previously married and divorced, and welcomed a daughter from another man whom she never married. Court records reportedly show that Natalie’s half sister had other permanent legal guardians and that she is now 20.

Although Natalie has been identified as the shooter, police are still investigating her motive.

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Yasmeen HamadehNight News Reporter

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