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Sam Hyde falsely linked to Wisconsin school shooting | Fact check

Andre Byik   Paste BN
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The claim: Wisconsin school shooter identified as 'Samuel Hyde'

A Dec. 16 Threads post (direct link, archive link) features side-by-side images of a girl taking a mirror selfie and a young man in a suit jacket and tie.

"BREAKING NEWS: The Wisconsin school shooter has been identified as Samuel Hyde, reportedly a trans student," the post reads. "Authorities urge the public to pray for the victims as investigations continue."

The post is an apparent reference to the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 16.

It was liked more than 400 times in two days.

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Our rating: False

The Wisconsin school shooter was identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, not "Samuel Hyde." Sam Hyde is a comedian who has been repeatedly and falsely linked to high-profile shootings for years.

No credible reports 'Samuel Hyde' named shooting suspect

Two people were killed and six others were injured in the Dec. 16 shooting. The suspected shooter was identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, a student at the school who went by Samantha, according to a Madison Police Department press release. She died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the release said.

Contrary to the post's claim, there are no credible police or news reports of a "Samuel Hyde" being named a suspect in the shooting. Social media users have repeatedly and falsely linked comedian Sam Hyde to high-profile shootings by spreading variations of his name in the aftermath of such attacks, as is the case here.

The comedian was wrongly associated with the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO and an attack on a Moscow concert hall. Hyde's name was also shared in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017, and his picture was falsely linked to a mass shooting in Las Vegas the same year.

Fact check: Post falsely links comedian to UnitedHealthcare CEO killing

The image of the person in a jacket and tie in the post appeared in the 2003 yearbook for Wilton High School in Connecticut, according to the website Classmates. The person was identified in the yearbook as "Samuel Hyde." The image was added to a Fandom wiki dedicated to Hyde, the comedian, in August 2023, according to the website's user contribution logs. It is unrelated to the Wisconsin school shooting suspect.

Paste BN could not verify the image of the person taking a mirror selfie.

The post mentions the suspect was "reportedly a trans student" but does not provide any evidence to support the claim. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said he did not know whether Rupnow was transgender, according to footage shared by WLUK-TV FOX 11 on Dec. 17.

Paste BN reached out to the Threads user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact debunked a similar version of the claim.

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