MADISON, Wis. — A 15-year-old girl who police say killed two people and wounded multiple others at a private Christian school in Wisconsin endured what appeared to be a tumultuous home life marked by divorces, custody battles and a series of court-mandated mediation sessions to resolve disputes over her care, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

Jeff and Mellissa Rupnow married and divorced twice, during which their daughter Natalie Rupnow would at times travel between her parents’ homes every few days and attend therapy.

They married in 2011 and divorced for the first time in 2014, according to court documents.

The two agreed to joint custody of Natalie, but she would live primarily with her mother, the documents state.

They remarried in 2017, according to their marriage certificate obtained by NBC, but filed for divorce a second time in 2020. Mellissa and Jeff Rupnow again agreed to share custody of Natalie, but this time she would spend “equal time with both parents,” the court documents show. A divorce certificate obtained by NBC News shows their divorce was finalized in 2021.

Natalie Rupnow, who also went by Samantha, shot and killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others during study hall on Monday at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, before dying from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. The victims were identified as Erin M. West, 42, and Rubi P. Vergara, 14.

Two students who sustained life-threatening injuries during the shooting remained in the hospital and the other four injured have been discharged, police said.

The FBI detained Alexander Paffendorf, 20, in California earlier this week and ordered him to temporarily surrender his firearms after he allegedly communicated with Natalie Rupnow. Authorities say Paffendorf admitted to discussing plans with Rupnow to arm himself with explosives and target a government building. The FBI uncovered messages between the two but did not disclose their alleged plans.

Paffendorf and his family could not immediately be reached for comment.

The apparent turmoil in Natalie Rupnow’s family life, as documented by court records, offer a glimpse into events that may have shaped her path before Monday’s tragedy.

In 2022, Mellissa and Jeff Rupnow sought mediation for custody of Natalie. That May, Dane County Family Court Services notified the parents of a requirement to attend a “mandatory parent education program via Zoom” due to a “disagreement concerning child custody and/or physical placement.” A month later, according to court documents, Mellissa Rupnow had “been scheduled to attend on June 2nd and June 16, 2022, but did not appear” for the Parent Education Program. Shortly after, the couple was asked to appear for a “mandatory mediation session in person appointment.”

In July 2022, an agreement was reached, granting them joint legal custody of Natalie, who would primarily live with her father, according to court documents. The documents also indicate that the parents agreed to “consider Natalie’s therapist’s recommendations regarding placement” for Natalie during the weekends.

Natalie’s mother agreed to connect with her therapist and “participate in therapy to the extent recommended by the therapist,” according to the court documents. Natalie’s father would make “every effort to schedule therapy appointments” to accommodate the mother’s schedule.

The court documents noted that “the parents report a generally positive co-parenting relationship and will continue to communicate with one another by text messages and phone conversations.”

Jeff and Mellissa Rupnow did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said the two are “fully cooperating” with investigators, who are still trying to identify a motive and have not released many details on the teenager.

“Identifying a motive is our top priority. But at this time, it appears that the motive was a combination of factors,” Barnes said at a news conference.

Trish Kilpin, the director of Wisconsin’s Office of School Safety, said on Monday that “targeted violence is preventable.”

“When somebody decides to use violence, it’s often to redress an upset or a grievance, and they progress down a pathway towards that violence,” Kilpin said. “And when they do that, they often study previous school shooting incidents.”

A neighbor of Jeff Rupnow’s who spoke to NBC News expressed shock when he learned about the shooting and described Jeff as a “kind person.”

“He really helped us out,” said the neighbor, who did not want his name used out of fear of publicity about the case. “I know we’re still trying to piece everything together.”

The neighbor indicated he didn’t know Natalie, saying “the very limited things we knew, it’s horrifying for everyone, obviously, and just horrifying for the families of the school and those kids.”

Selina Guevara reported from Madison, and Chloe Atkins and Daniella Silva reported from New York City.

4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly sunny skies. A few flakes are possible North. High: 25.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mainly clear skies. Much colder temperatures. Low: 8.

SUNDAY: Partly cloudy skies, continued cold. High: 25.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies, increasing clouds. Mostly cloudy late. Low: 19.

MONDAY: Cloudy skies. Snow develops in the late afternoon and evening. High: 33.

After a wintry end of the week with snow for most of the region, we will get a break from the snow with some much-needed sunshine looking ahead into the upcoming weekend.

The clouds have thinned out overnight last night into this morning, and I’m expecting lots of sunshine looking ahead throughout our Saturday. There may be a few more clouds in some of our northern communities up into the thumb, with a few snowflakes possible thanks to the northwesterly flow that will continue for the start of the weekend. High temperatures warming below freezing throughout the day, only heading for the middle 20s by the time we get to Saturday afternoon.

Mainly clear skies will be expected overnight tonight, and that will allow temperatures to drop pretty fast. Overnight low is dropping into the single digits, with windshields also going into the single digits overnight Saturday night into early on Sunday morning.

Looking ahead to the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep some sunshine into the forecast with a little more cloud cover sticking around as well. High temperature is remaining below freezing, only in the middle 20s by Sunday afternoon.

Our next chain of winter weather moves back into the region, looking ahead into the start of next week, we will see another area of low pressure move towards the region, and that will overspread snow into the region Monday afternoon into Monday evening. High temperature is warming up to right around the freezing mark, end of the lower 30s by Monday afternoon.

Then, dry weather sticks around, looking ahead into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for Tuesday and Wednesday. Mostly cloudy skies can be expected both days, high temperatures continuing to warm, into the upper 30s both days.

The cloud cover sticks around for Thursday, before rain showers are back into the forecast, looking ahead into the end of next week on Friday. The warming trend continues into the end of next week. It temperatures are expected to warm into the lower 40s both Thursday and Friday.

Associated Press

Washington Wizards (4-21, 15th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (14-12, fifth in the Eastern Conference)

Milwaukee; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bucks -12.5; over/under is 226.5

BOTTOM LINE: Washington travels to Milwaukee looking to end its 10-game road skid.

The Bucks are 12-11 against Eastern Conference opponents. Milwaukee is 2-3 in one-possession games.

The Wizards are 3-14 against Eastern Conference opponents. Washington is ninth in the Eastern Conference with 33.1 defensive rebounds per game led by Jonas Valanciunas averaging 5.4.

The Bucks are shooting 48.3% from the field this season, 0.7 percentage points higher than the 47.6% the Wizards allow to opponents. The Wizards are shooting 44.2% from the field, 1.2% lower than the 45.4% the Bucks’ opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, six assists and 1.5 blocks for the Bucks.

Jordan Poole is scoring 20.6 points per game with 2.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Wizards.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bucks: 7-3, averaging 113.5 points, 41.7 rebounds, 24.3 assists, 7.1 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.1 points per game.

Wizards: 2-8, averaging 106.6 points, 46.0 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 7.8 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.1 points.

INJURIES: Bucks: Damian Lillard: day to day (calf).

Wizards: Saddiq Bey: out (knee), Kyle Kuzma: out (ribs).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.