Teen US School Shooter Linked To Violent Website Showing Beheadings, Graphic Death Videos

The 15-year-old student, who killed two people and injured six others at a US school on Monday before turning the gun on herself, has been linked to a disturbing online community. Investigators have uncovered Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow's ties with ‘Watch People Die', a group which glorifies graphic violence and has over three million users. The site shows graphic and disturbing images of shootings, accidents, other school shooters, and incidents such as a teen dying in a meat grinder accident.

Under the username @Crossixir, Rupnow reportedly interacted frequently on ‘Watch People Die'. In one post, Rupnow commented on a suicide-by-hanging video, speculating about the thoughts people might have before dying.

“I wonder what a lot [of] people think before they die, you know?” she wrote four months ago, as per The NY Post. “Like just simply if it's if they want to die at all or just nothing, or either perhaps just sex or just something stupid. The only thing I would bother to think of is just do it already if I was killing myself but it depends on the situation,” the post read.

In another post last month, Rupnow made a grim joke, comparing a man jumping through a window to "a fat version of Liam Payne," a reference to the One Direction singer.

Photos from Rupnow's father's Facebook page show her at a shooting range wearing a T-shirt from German industrial band KMFDM, a favourite of Columbine killer Eric Harris. Harris famously wore a similar shirt before the 1999 massacre that killed 13. This has fuelled speculation that Rupnow may have been inspired by the Columbine tragedy.

Her social media profiles also revealed a fascination with other school shootings. Authorities are still searching for a motive. Attempts to contact Rupnow's parents, Jeff and Mellissa, have been unsuccessful. Authorities are also looking into how she obtained the weapon and whether parental negligence was involved. This incident marks the 322nd school shooting in the US this year.

Rupnow opened fire in a study hall classroom at the conservative Christian school around 11 am, killing a teacher and a fellow student while wounding three other students and another educator. She later succumbed to her self-inflicted injuries en route to the hospital.