California man linked to Madison school shooter may have plotted own attack

A Southern California man who was in contact with the Madison, Wis., school shooter allegedly was plotting to attack a government building, according to records and media reports.

On Tuesday evening, a San Diego County Superior Court judge granted a gun violence emergency protective order that the Carlsbad Police Department filed against local resident Alexander Paffendorf, according to online records reviewed by The Times. This is a civil action that allows law enforcement to seize weapons from individuals deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Carlsbad police did not respond to a request for comment or for a copy of the original order filing Wednesday evening. However, a copy obtained by CBS 8 shows that FBI agents detained the 20-year-old after learning he was allegedly plotting a mass shooting with 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow.

Authorities say Rupnow shot and killed a teacher and a teenage student and injured six others at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin on Monday, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“During an FBI interview, Paffendorf admitted to the FBI agents that he told Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” the restraining order states, according to CBS 8.

In an online Q&A about the shooting, the Madison Police Department acknowledged a question “about a person arrested in California potentially linked to this shooting,” but referred all inquiries to the FBI. The bureau declined to comment on Paffendorf.

As of Wednesday evening, Paffendorf’s name did not appear in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office’s online custody records.

Shortly after the restraining order was approved, residents near Paffendorf’s apartment complex reported seeing multiple police cars enter the area, CBS 8 reported.

Neighbor Alex Gallegos told the station that he saw about 15 officers pull into the complex. They later exited Paffendorf’s apartment carrying what Gallegos said looked like a “black gun box.”

“I’m just glad that they are on top of it and are going to get to the bottom of it hopefully, before something bad happens here in our county,” he told the station.