Wisconsin school shooter Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow was obsessed with a sick website called Watch People Die, it has been reported.
The 15-year-old was one of more than 3 million members who visited the disturbing platform where users post graphic and disturbing videos of people being shot, run over or killed in other brutal ways. reports the New York Post.
It also includes videos of international incidents such as ISIS beheadings and other school shootings – which Rupnow had a particular fascination with.
She reportedly posted under the username @Crossixir and responded to a video of an apparent suicide by hanging: “I’m thinking of something while he’s hanging himself.”
When another member then asked her for an explanation, Rupnow wrote, “I wonder what much [of] people think before they die, you know?’
“Like just, if they want to die at all or just nothing, or maybe just sex or something stupid,” she replied, according to the Post.
“The only thing I would think about is, ‘Just do it already’ if I was going to kill myself, but that depends on the situation,” Rupnow wrote.
About a month ago, she also reportedly posted a response to a video of a man jumping through a window, “Fat version of Liam Payne,” referring to the former One Direction singer jumping from the balcony of a Buenos hotel in October Aires plunged to his death. .
Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow was reportedly a member of a website called Watch People Die
According to the New York Post, she had a special interest in school shootings
The website contains graphic and disturbing videos of people being shot, run over, or otherwise brutally murdered
Other videos on the site include ‘suicidal man kills himself in front of police’ and ‘worker is crushed while trying to stop a forklift from tipping over’.
But the @Crossixir username was banned by the site as of Wednesday morning, in the wake of the school shooting that claimed lives by 14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara and Abundant Life Christian School deputy coordinator Erin West.
Six others were injured in the shooting and two were left in critical condition.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear, as police say it appears to have been a “combination of factors.”
“Some have asked if people were specifically targeted. Everyone was targeted in this incident and everyone was in equal danger,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said, according to CNN.
Rupnow apparently planned the attack with the 20-year-old Alexander Paffendorf, a California resident, was arrested by FBI agents on suspicion of “conspiracy” to coordinate a mass shooting at government buildings with the school shooter.
“During an FBI interview, Paffendorf admitted to FBI agents that he told Rupnow he would arm himself with explosives and a handgun that he would aim at a government building,” the warrant said.
It notes that FBI agents “saw Paffendorf’s messages to Rupnow.”
Rupnow opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School just before 11 a.m. Monday
Police arrived moments later and found the gunman injured and recovered the weapon
But it is unclear how, or if, Rupnow knew Paffendorf none of the victims in the school shooting were at school specifically targeted.
Lyndsay O’Connor, mother of two survivors, had previously suggested that the regular study hall teacher, who was not there due to a ‘planned absence’, may have been Natalie’s target – although her idea has not been verified by police.
“We don’t know if her target was the original teacher or just the children in the classroom. She should have walked past the door and the door was open,” O’Connor said.
Rupnow had two guns with him during the attack, but only used one to carry out the attack, Barnes revealed Wednesday, noting he does not know how the teen obtained the weapons.
“We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we will do our best to add or provide as much information as possible to our audience,” he said.
Erin M West, 42, worked at Abundant Life Christian School as a deputy coordinator before she was shot
14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara was killed in the school shooting
The police have said that before They received a call at 10:57 a.m. Monday morning and within three minutes, county sheriff’s deputies had arrived at Abundant Life Christian School, which serves about 420 students. Local police arrived seconds later.
At 11:05 a.m., they said they found the gunman injured and recovered the weapon. Rupnow was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.
At the same time, firefighters arrived on the scene and began caring for the victims.
Authorities raided the Rupnows’ Wisconsin home following the tragedy, and Natalie’s father has reportedly cooperated with the ongoing investigation.
Investigators have been trying to determine if the mass shooter’s parents, Jeff and Melissa, had any involvement or contributed to Natalie’s actions.
The shooter’s divorced parents shared joint custody of their child, but Natalie lived primarily with her 42-year-old father.