HINES, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota officials this month went to a purported rescue facility to remove more than 250 animals living in crates caked with excrement — only to find many dogs and cats missing and a pile of ashes and animal bones.
Only 70 animals escaped alive.
A man and a woman who lived at the home in rural Hines, Minnesota, about 80 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Canadian border, were charged with 10 counts of animal torture Dec. 9. The woman on Monday requested a hearing on the legality of the animals' removal.
“I’m hoping obviously for justice for those animals,” Beltrami Sheriff Jason Riggs said.
Sheriff's deputies began investigating after receiving a report Oct. 21 about an extremely skinny loose dog and others kept in small cages covered in feces, according to the probable cause statement.
Deputies who visited the property that day gave the owners a week to clean and care for the animals. When deputies returned Oct. 29, they counted at least 250 cats, dogs and horses, not including free-roaming barn cats. Again, they gave the owners time to clean and care for the animals.
By Nov. 12, several dogs and cats appeared to be missing, according to deputies, and an owner said at least one had been euthanized, the probable cause statement said. Dogs were so skinny that deputies could see their ribs and hip bones, and several were eating animal excrement. A few cats had “so little muscle mass that they were unstable when they stood up," deputies wrote, and other cats' eyes had burst from untreated infections.
Deputies returned Dec. 6 with a search warrant and rescue workers to remove the animals. Deputies said they found animal bones in an ash pile at least 4 feet long and 2 feet deep (1.2 meters long and 0.6 meters deep).
All 70 animals were taken to the Animal Humane Society, which had to build temporary shelters to house them. Spokesperson Sarah Bhimani said the effort required 8,000 pounds of cat litter, 100 new litter boxes, $5,000 in medications, $1,000 in prescription food and $700 in personal protection equipment for rescue workers.
One unlucky kitten rescued from the house has a broken pelvis and is at risk of losing a leg, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Graham Brayshaw said. Another kitten, now named Korok, is at risk of losing both eyes.
But Brayshaw said almost all the other animals rescued from the house recovered quickly.
“As a whole, they really just needed a really good environment or a good clean environment to live in and to get good access to food, clean water and that sort of thing,” Brayshaw said.
Bhimani said it took time to coordinate help for so many animals at once. She said all the animals went to the Animal Humane Society because of the pending criminal charges and possibility that the former owner could request them back.
“We needed to make sure that we could responsibly care for them," Bhimani said. “So this was really an all-hands-on-deck situation for us.”
Riggs said his department deals with large-scale animal abuse allegations so infrequently that “we have to break out the books” on relevant Minnesota law. He said Beltrami County, which has a population of about 47,000, does not have the infrastructure or veterinary care to handle such a case.
“When you’re talking potentially over 250 animals, we just have no way to plan for that,” Riggs said.
He also said a review of Minnesota's animal welfare laws is needed.
“Are we doing the best for Minnesota with the laws that we currently have?” Riggs asked.
Kerry D’Amato, executive director of the animal shelter Pet Haven, said it took too long to rescue the animals.
She said Minnesota law enforcement officers do not have enough training and resources to quickly handle similar situations and there are no state laws regulating foster-only animal rescues.
“It’s not about pointing fingers,” D’Amato said. “It’s about, how can we use this tragic case to make things better in the state of Minnesota? And if we don’t, we’re going to keep seeing it.”
An Animal Humane Society worker hugs a dog rescued from a home on Dec. 9, 2024, in Hines, Minn., where two residents are charged with 10 counts of animal torture. (Photo courtesy of Animal Humane Society)
A kitten sits in a crate at a home where two residents were charged with 10 counts of animal torture in Hines, Minn., before being rescued on Dec. 9, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Animal Humane Society)
An Animal Humane Society worker holds Klicky, a kitten rescued from a home in Hines, Minn., on Dec. 9, 2024, after two residents at the home were charged with 10 counts of animal torture. (Photo courtesy of Animal Humane Society)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The shooter at a religious school in Wisconsin had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others, the city's police chief said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday, before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
“We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we’ll do our best to try to add or give as much information to our public as possible," Barnes said.
The student who was killed was identified in an obituary released Wednesday as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison. She was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to the obituary. The Associated Press' attempts to reach the girl's family by phone and email on Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.
The name of the teacher killed has not been released.
Barnes released the name of the shooter, Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, hours after the shooting on Monday. Barnes said the medical examiner would release the names of those killed, but the state's crime victims privacy law would bar releasing the names of those injured.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with her parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes said.
Police don't know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow's parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.
Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents. Divorce records indicate that Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don’t say why.
Tension over police not releasing information had spilled over into a news conference on Tuesday, where Barnes left without taking questions. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway grew increasingly terse in her responses as reporters asked questions she could not answer.
“It is absolutely none of y’alls business who was harmed in this incident,” Rhodes-Conway said. ”Please, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured. Just have some human decency, folks. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal. Don’t feed off their pain. We’ll share what we can when we can and not before that.”
Barnes on Wednesday defended the police department's handling of information about the shooting because it has moved from a crisis response to the investigation phase.
“We’ve been trying to be as transparent as possible to give as much information as we can during the critical phase of this incident,” Barnes said. “Now we’re in the investigative phase. And so the information may not be as forthcoming.”
Tamrin Olden, a former police department spokesperson in California whose company provides communications training for law enforcement, said she advises departments to give routine updates with factual information after critical incidents and avoid unnecessarily delaying the release of information. She said that communications errors can cause frustration in the community, undermine the public's trust and compound the underlying tragedy.
“Your credibility gets tarnished and the incident sometimes gets remembered for these things rather than remembering and honoring the victims, which is where the focus should be,” she said.
The police department has had to correct some key misstatements since Monday, including that three and not five people had died and that a second-grade teacher, not a second-grade student, called 911.
Paul Bucher, the former Waukesha County district attorney who was involved in a number of high-profile cases, said the media has unrealistic expectations about how quickly officials should release information in high-profile incidents. His cases have included prosecuting former Green Bay Packers star tight end Mark Chmura for sexual assault in 2000 and being part of the team that dealt with the aftermath of a mass shooting at a church gathering in Brookfield in 2005 that left seven people dead.
“The government is fed up with the media,” he said. “They have no obligation to disclose anything to you at all. Based on the mayor’s statement, ‘this is not y’all’s business,’ that’s pretty indicative that they’ve had it.”
But Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders, a longtime Madison journalist, said Wednesday that authorities should be more transparent with the facts.
“It’s a problem that so little information has been released. I do not accept that this is necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation,” he said. “The public has a right to know.”
The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.
But it stands out because school shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in the U.S., with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Emily Salisbury, an associate professor of social work at the University of Utah, studies criminology and gender. She said that females typically turn their anger on themselves because American culture has taught them that women don’t hurt people, resulting in eating disorders, self-harm and depression. It’s difficult to speculate without knowing all the facts in Rupnow’s case, Salisbury said, but a girl resorting to the level of violence she displayed suggests she experienced severe trauma or suffered violence herself.
“It takes more provocation, more instigation for girls and women to become violent,” Salisbury said. “It’s a very high probability she experienced some sort of violence in her life that can lead to serious mental illness.”
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — prekindergarten through high school — with approximately 420 students.
Salisbury said the public shouldn’t assume that the school’s religious teachings mean its students are above bullying and ostracizing each other.
“They’re children,” Salisbury said. “As much as those (religious) values may be taught or discussed in the classroom in the culture of that school, kids are online all the time. Kids create their own culture through social media.”
This story has been updated to correct that Emily Salisbury is an associate professor of social work at the University of Utah, not an associate sociology professor.
Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
Police tape remained after a shooting Monday at Abundant Life Christian School on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP photo/Mark Vancleave)
Dan Beazley stands with the homemade cross he brought from Michigan for victims of a shooting at Abundant Life Christin School on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP photo/Mark Vancleave)
Supporters sign crosses during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Madison Police chief Shon F. Barnes speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
People put flowers outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in Madison, Wis., following a shooting on Monday. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Flowers and candles are placed outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in Madison, Wis., following a shooting on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
People put flowers outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in Madison, Wis., following a shooting on Monday. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Flowers and candles are placed outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in Madison, Wis., following a shooting on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A supporter signs a cross during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
