The teenage girl who killed a teacher and fellow student at her Wisconsin school this week was in contact with a California man who was planning his own mass shooting, according to California court records.

News of the connection between 15-year-old Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow and the Carlsbad, California, man surfaced while authorities worked to determine exactly what motivated her to stage Monday's (Dec 16) attack at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. In addition to the two fatalities, the suspect wounded six other people before turning the gun on herself.

In Wisconsin, the Dane County Medical office identified the two people killed at the school as ninth-grade student Rubi Vergara, 14, and Erin West, a 42-year-old faculty member. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

It remained unclear how the California man and Rupnow became connected. Police have been scouring her online activity, checking her cellphone records and interviewing friends and family to understand her motivations and relationships with others, a police statement said.

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