Two teenagers who carried out deadly shootings before killing themselves at their respective high schools in attacks roughly a month apart from each other appear to have crossed paths online, according to a new joint report from ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch.
The first shooting took place on 16 December at the Abundant Life Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin. Two people – a teacher and a 14-year-old student – were killed by the shooter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, before she killed herself.
On Wednesday morning, Solomon Henderson, a 17-year-old student at Antioch high school in the Nashville area, killed a fellow student after firing 10 shots in a school cafeteria. Henderson then died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Extremism researchers who have been studying the online profiles of the two shooters in the aftermath of their attacks believe the two interacted online – specifically in extremist groups that the researchers say radicalize the young teenagers to commit violence. In these online circles, members glorify violent attacks and share tips on how to perpetrate acts of violence, along with promoting white supremacist, antisemitic beliefs.
There is no indication Henderson and Rupnow planned their different attacks and suicides together. But in the weeks before her attack, Rupnow reshared on X a post from Henderson that wished a happy Veterans Day to a man who killed 15 people in a mass shooting at the University of Texas at Austin in 1966.
The researchers found that Henderson became fixated on Rupnow after her attack, bragging to his followers that they followed each other online. Henderson called Rupnow a “saintress” and reshared multiple posts about her. He changed his profile picture on one platform to a picture of Rupnow.
“I used to be mutual with someone who is now a real school shooter ;-),” Henderson appears to have posted on X.
Researchers believe Rupnow posted a photo on X of someone sitting in a bathroom stall, holding up a hand gesture that has become a symbol of white supremacy, moments before she carried out her attack. In accounts linked to Henderson, researchers found he responded to Rupnow: “Livestream it.”
And researchers found he posted a similar photo before he opened fire in his own attack.
Madison and Nashville police have not officially announced any connection between the two shootings. The Madison police department told ProPublica that the agency is “just starting” to review information from tech companies on Rupnow’s accounts, saying that she “was very active on social media”.
Meanwhile, Nashville police have said they received and are reviewing two documents they believe were created by Henderson before the shooting which, combined, amount to more than 300 pages.
The online activities of hate groups like the digital communities Rupnow and Henderson joined have led to various convictions, including for soliciting hate crimes, threatening the murders of public officials and soliciting child sexual abuse materials.
The US state department recently designated the online extremist Terrorgram Collective as a terrorist group. Along with promoting white supremacy, the group encourages violent attacks and “provides guidance and instructional materials on tactics, methods and targets for attacks, including on critical infrastructure and government officials”.
ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch did not name the extremist researchers whose work is featured in the report, saying they were kept anonymous for fear of their safety and that their credentials were verified with experts in the field.
