A recent 15-year-old female shooter attended a private K-12 school that was staunchly Bible based and Christ-centered in all its instruction areas regardless of topic, and emphasized discipline and order.
It also had some music courses in the typical areas, although the degree of exposure to styles is uncertain, an online analysis reveals, but the deadly shooter appeared to have gotten some of her education in other places, as she had worn a T-shirt of a German band termed electro-industrial, a group around for more than two decades that appeared amongst other genres as having punk influences. The photo of her wearing the shirt was at a rifle range where the family had established a membership.
That band, KFMDM, has lyrics that are non-stop aggressive and intense and raw, but could also be seen as possibly intelligent — in a base way — and maybe even thought provoking analysis of our tough and fallen world and a call to action. This is strongly seen in one of their main hymns, titled Dogma.
The band name is a shortened version of the German phrase “no pity for the majority,” and when they were young rockers they had those words switched and flipped around, a bit reminiscent of an early Megadeth (a metal band who sometimes likely did such things intentionally) but not quite as profound, showing a “just coming out of the gates” swagger and need for honing, as well as the fact that in that all-caps name there was a misuse of proper language, again showing a youthful rawness that just calls for an editor. That badly worded phrase has been well-noted in the mainstream press, without those writers actually noting just what the mistake was, showing that there is some complexity there.
It’s worth noting that the most hardcore and extreme rock and metal, especially in their calls for actual action against what they think is bad and even evil in our society, has historically come from Germany. The band name has been said, interestingly enough, to refer to killing Depeche Mode, another rock band, an inference that may have been taken from lyrics to one of its songs. It is not known if those lyrics were satirical.
You are not going to see exposure to any musical content like that at Abundant Life Christian School, where the shooter attended.
What we’ve seen
At first before writing this post, I just let the dust settle. After first hearing of the shooting, I and some others unfortunately thought this was possibly one of those small, private, maybe even family-run schools with a quite loose, top-end leadership structure and forceful creed that recognizes and abides by only an oligarchy of voices. Even that there can exist just a perception, based on the actions of a few schools, illustrates that there is a concern. We do not want this become an “us versus them” setting.
We obviously didn’t want, or get, anything from the school where the shootings took place with the indoctrination and near-slavery of say, that Waco, Texas cult.
Or a seminary where its mere mention causes educated, progressive Catholics, if by themselves, to turn their heads in scorn, and think or say, that’s where those fixated problem priests come from.
And an analysis makes it is apparent that at the Abundant Life Christian Church we had none of those things overtly, the typical ones that could provoke any children to anger, despite some initial appearances and flashings that could stem from even the name of the school being a little unorthodox. But there is an emphasis that is a little unsettling and indoctrinary, of “base-everything-on-the-Bible” studies and infuse that into all subject matter, and order and discipline. Metal groups have long cautioned against such religious indoctrination, and check out the also complex lyrics of the late Ronnie James Dio such as Stargazer and Bible Black.
Maybe part of the answer to keeping these things from happening is in the question of why some students and whole families are drawn to such smaller and one would think non-diverse of most broad opinion and straightforwardly rigid instructional schools in the first place. After all, it is often a teen, and maybe a student, doing the shooting. They usually have been angered by something more troubling than a typical childhood should provide. And it is clear that this alleged shooter was angry at the world and unhappy — and in a good or bad way wanted to do, and/or say, something about it.
Details in the alleged manifesto of suspected Wisconsin school shooter Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow paint a much darker picture of the 15-year-old’s life than the main family-based content on her father’s Facebook page, and conclusions that have been drawn from it in the press.
Rupnow, 15, opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, police said, killing one female teacher and a 17-year-old female student. Six other people were injured in the shooting before Rupnow died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police said, initially, they have not confirmed that a darkly written, Google Doc titled “War Against Humanity” circulating on social media is Natalie Rupnow’s confirmed manifesto. In this unconfirmed document, the author writes that “they” have “grown to hate people and society” and calls their parents “scum,” according to one press report.
School background
Abundant Life was founded in 1978 as a community Christian school, serving the surrounding area, with its first graduating class only seven years later. ALCS was specifically organized to offer students academic (though focused) excellence in a Christ-focused context and content. ALCS offers grades from kindergarten through 12th grade.”
This is basically a mission statement: “Each individual is uniquely created by God!  This basic truth is emphasized in our instruction for all students.  As a result, ALCS students learn to honor other people and to respect the rights and property of others.  Training in these principles establishes a school atmosphere of discipline and order.  This enables the ALCS faculty to devote more class time to actual teaching, thereby fostering academic excellence.” I can appreciate venues that just put it out there, and say this is who we are, so that people know what they are encountering.
ALCS uses a combination of Christian curricula from Abeka and Bob Jones University for their preschool through elementary students. At the middle and high school level, they use a combination of Christian and secular materials “which best fit our instructional goals in each academic area.”
All subjects are taught from a Christian perspective, a guide says.
The Elementary School Program (grades K through 5) includes course work in Bible, language arts (using a traditional phonics reading approach), history and social studies, mathematics, science (taught from the perspective of discovering God’s creation), health, computers, physical education, art education, music education, and library. Beginning in 4th grade, students may participate in chime band. By 5th grade, the students may begin extracurricular sports.
The Middle School Program provides course work in the five traditional areas of Bible, language arts, history, mathematics and science/health. Students also experience classes and activities in physical education, the fine arts, including art, drama, vocal music and instrumental music, Spanish, computer education, and financial literacy.
At the high school level, the core curriculum consists of the following areas: Bible, English, social studies, mathematics, science, and physical education. Elective courses are offered in the areas of foreign language, business, vocal and instrumental music, art, drama, computer applications, and yearbook publications. Student activities include: National Honor Society, worship, band, prayer groups, and various clubs, along with athletics.
Biblical knowledge is believed to be a key factor in providing a successful education.
The author also writes in the document that they acquired weapons “by lies and manipulation, and my father’s stupidity” and as a morbid solution describes wanting to die by suicide, but feeling like carrying out a shooting was “better for evolution rather than just one stupid boring suicide.”
Meanwhile, posts and pictures on Jeff Rupnow’s Facebook page paint a picture of a typical middle-class American family. Posts from November of both 2022 and 2023 show his daughter doing things like happily playing with her dogs in a pile of leaves.
Jeff also posted a photo of Natalie at a gun range on August 17. In the photo, she is wearing a T-shirt featuring the logo and art work used in promotion of KMFDM, that German electro-industrial band, which is the same shirt worn by Eric Harris, one of the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
Rock T-shirts are nothing new, but to draw a generalization, if they depict a very popular band such as Iron Maiden, (probably the most used choice), it usually is an attempt to be with the “in” crowd, where if the band is lesser known or a niche genre, the wearer is more likely to have a knowledge of their content. This band’s cover art, with a couple of exceptions like one showing two naked women lying together in R rated content, tends to be less graphic than that of many.
When a friend asked if the teen shooting the gun was “kiddo,” Jeff Rupnow replied, “Sure is!!!! We joined NBSC [North Bristol Sportsman’s Club] this spring and we have been loving all every second of it!” according to a media report.