Authorities say a 20-year old man from Carlsbad was in contact with the suspected shooter and was planning his own attack on a government building. NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada reports.
A 20-year-old Carlsbad, California, man has been ordered to surrender his guns after authorities said he communicated with the teenage girl suspected of committing a fatal school shooting in Wisconsin, allegedly expressing his own plans to carry out a deadly attack against a government building.
Police and FBI agents went to the home of Alexander Paffendorf on Tuesday night to seize his guns and ammunition after a San Diego Superior Court judge approved a gun violence restraining order, according to documents obtained by NBC San Diego.
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The restraining order said, in part: "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."
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Paffendorf was detained, but it was not clear if he was arrested.
The Carlsbad Police Department told NBC San Diego on Wednesday night that "there is no threat to the Carlsbad community at this time." A spokesperson added that the investigation is being led by the Madison Police Department in Wisconsin.
The FBI's San Diego office declined to comment.
Neighbors say they saw a large police presence in the area on Tuesday, but they never imagined it would have a connection to the shooting in Wisconsin.
"You would never think that would happen," Carlsbad resident Renee Foreman said. "And then being in your own neighborhood, across the street from your house. That's not good. That's scary."
On Monday, 15-year-old Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow allegedly fatally shot a teacher and a student and wounded six other people at Abundant Life Christian School, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Rupnow was later found dead at the scene with what were believed to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
