Madison police chief speaks with CBS 58 1-on-1 after deadly school shooting, updates lead investigation to California
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- CBS 58 has gathered more information from Madison police about Monday's school shooting that left 3 dead and at least 6 others injured.
Police say 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow killed a student and teacher at Abundant Life Christian School. Police are investigating a second person in connection to the shooting. They say the shooter was in contact with a California man and he was allegedly planning to attack a government building. The man was detained.
CBS 58's Kathryn Merck sat down for a one-on-one with the Madison police chief and was given 10 minutes to conduct the interview. With people looking to learn more about the shooter's possible motive and relationship, the chief shared some of his department's updates since Monday's shooting.
"We last heard from you Tuesday at the press conference where you said the shooter’s motive was a combination of factors. Can you describe what exactly you meant by that?" Merck asked the chief.
"Our officers and detectives have collected a lot of evidence, to include cell phones, computers, papers, and we’re going to go through each of that individually, as well as we have looking at social media posts and things of that nature, chat rooms, so we have a full accompaniment of analysis looking at digital and paper information to figure out what have been going through her mind at the time," said Chief Barnes.
"You said digitally is one of the ways that you are looking into what happened today. Specifically, there’s information coming out today about a man from California who was involved, what can you share about that today?" asked Merck.
"I can share that I was briefed on that last night from our FBI sources, this gentleman is alleging that he knew her, he’s saying relationship, but when I was 15, relationships meant something different than it does today, because we weren’t connected by social media," said Barnes. "We’re going to take our time to look into that. This person is under a mental health hold right now because it puts things and pause because we have to determine if he’s giving us credible information other than just being connected through the social media network."
CBS 58 also asked Barnes about Rupnow's alleged manifesto, which has been circulating on social media.
"What can you share today about the legitimacy of that document?" Merck asked.
"We’re still waiting to see if the original document is on any of her devices or on her papers, we’re not done with that, and as soon as we can find that part out, we can tell if she originated it," said Barnes.
As police try to uncover more details in the coming days, the chief urges people to remember the victims at the center of this devastating event in Madison.
"Although we want to know why this occurred, my ask is that you send your thoughts, prayers, and energy to those who were hurt," said Barnes.
Barnes said he did not have information at this time if anyone in the school was a specific target.
In a statement, the Public Affairs Officer for the FBI Milwaukee Division said the Madison Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation into the school shooting in Wisconsin with the assistance of the Milwaukee and San Diego field offices of the FBI, the Carlsbad, California Police Department, and other law enforcement partners.
The department added it is not aware of any ongoing threats associated with this matter in Wisconsin or California.
Questions remain on how the shooter got the gun in Monday's attack. Attorney General Josh Kaul said several gun laws could apply, though he declined to speak about specifics.
"Which ones may be relevant in any particular case is difficult to say," said Kaul.
State law makes it a felony for anyone to provide a dangerous weapon to anyone under 18, and the punishments are elevated when it causes death. But a legal expert said it could be difficult to prove the gun was given to her for the attack.