Another School Shooting. Another Mental Health Failure.

December 18, 2024

Having covered school shootings for decades, it is encouraging that mental health information is being made public in record time. Just two days since the shooting in Madison Wisconsin and the fact that the shooter was receiving therapy has already hit the news cycle.

Fifteen-year-old Natalie (Samantha) Rupnow, the reported shooter at the Abundant Life Christian School, who opened fire on her fellow students and teachers, killing two and wounding six others, apparently was a pawn in her parent’s marital troubles. An unhappy kid to say the least.

According to a Washington Post report, the shooter’s parents married and divorced three times. The last divorce in 2021 provided a custody agreement that had the 15-year-old shuttling between each parent’s home every two or three days. And, given there was a custody case, it comes with the territory that the State’s Family Services Department would become involved. Another clue that the state became involved in Natalie’s welfare is that the parents were involved in mediation and according to the Post “Natalie had been enrolled in therapy, which was supposed to help guide decisions about which parent she would spend weekends with…”

Natalie “had enrolled” in therapy? Really? No. Children don’t make the decision as to whether they’ll receive “therapy” or counselling. That decision is made by the court, usually as a recommendation by a family services representative. So, obviously, the next question is what “treatment” did Natalie receive as part of her “therapy?” What psychiatric drugs were prescribed? C’mon it’s way past trying to hide the drugging of children receiving state mental health services. It happens far too often to suggest Natalie had not been on the receiving end of a psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric drug “treatment.”

In fact, one could argue that once the psychiatric drug “treatment” is made public, the motive or cause of this violence can be found in the drug’s adverse side effects.  Not surprisingly, the Post article spends nearly an entire page on how a fifteen-year-old could get a gun, state gun laws and the need for greater gun restrictions. Not one paragraph, however, is dedicated to the possibility that this young girl could have been prescribed psychiatric drugs with known deadly adverse effects.

The other missing piece in this very sad case is that of the State of Wisconsin Family or Juvenile Services. If Natalie was receiving “therapy” services, AKA mental health services, what exactly were the services, how long had the shooter been receiving the services and who in the state can provide the mental health records that may provide insight into why a 15-year-old girl would want to kill her school friends and teachers.

There is no doubt that a record exists, and it involves Natalie’s mental health “treatment.” Let’s all stop pretending that it’s impossible to figure out why a child would become so violent. It happens all the time. One only has to review the list of recent school shooters who had a history of mental health “treatment.” Just release the mental health files and you’ll get the motive.

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