Hours after Wednesday’s shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church and school left two children dead and 17 other people wounded, Minnesota officials identified the now-deceased gunman as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who has been identified as transgender.
The shooting occurred around 8:30 a.m. local time as a multitude of students gathered for an all-school Mass at Annunciation Church. The two children killed were aged 8 and 10. Among the injured victims were 14 children, ranging from ages 6 to 15, and three adults in their 80s. All wounded victims are expected to survive their various injuries.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and other leaders provided an update on Wednesday afternoon.
Transgender, anti-Trump, anti-Israel: The shooter’s biography revealed
Westman, who had no prior criminal history, carried a rifle, shotgun, and pistol at the time of the shooting, with a recorded manifesto believed to have been posted by the shooter showing rifle magazines adorned with various messages, including “Kill Donald Trump.” Written on weapon parts, ammunition, and smoke grenades were other messages such as “Israel must fall” and “6 million wasn’t enough,” as well as “for the children” and “where is your God?”
The video also showed a drawn layout of the church’s interior, which Westman stabbed repeatedly while saying, “I’m going to kill myself.”
The gunman’s mother signed a petition to change her child’s name from Robert to Robin in 2020, saying her child “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the shooter is transgender Wednesday.
Westman’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, worked for the church for 5 years, retiring in 2021, according to the Associated Press. It’s believed Westman attended the school, O’Hara said. Whether he attended the church remains unconfirmed.
O’Hara said all three weapons were purchased lawfully, with police actively executing search warrants at three residences and at the church. Authorities believe the identified shooter acted alone, and no other suspects are being investigated at this time.
No motive has been identified yet, but O’Hara said Westman’s manifesto was briefly published on YouTube before authorities removed it from the website. Officials are investigating the manifesto now to determine a possible motive.
“This manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings,” O’Hara said. The police chief described Westman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound behind the church, as a “coward.”
The gunman fired through the church’s windows toward Catholic students sitting in the pews, officials previously revealed. Police will reveal a definitive number about the number of parishioners attending Mass when the shooting started.
The troubled shooter regrets transitioning
In the manifesto, Westman wrote about how he was “brain-washed” into identifying as transgender.
“I only keep [the long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,” he wrote, according to a translation by the New York Post. The manifesto was encrypted in a mix of Cyrillic alphabet, English, and other languages.
Westman also said he was considering cutting his hair before the shooting.
“I can’t cut my hair now as it would be embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported,” he wrote. “It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.”
People once close to Westman said he was clearly troubled. A former friend, Josefina Sanchez told a local outlet that he had said “Praise Hitler” in school when younger.
“Something I knew was off, but I was a kid. How would I know, like, what to do in the seventh grade?” Sanchez asked.
Westman’s uncle, who supports the transgender movement, wished his nephew had shot him instead of the students in an interview with the Associated Press. Former Kentucky state Rep. Bob Heleringer, a Republican, said he “barely knew” Westman because the family lived in Minnesota.
Heleringer, 74, opposed banning transgender procedures and treatments for minors and decried his party in a 2023 op-ed for waging a “war against LGBTQ people.” He served in the Kentucky legislature from 1979 to 2002.
Feds are investigating the shooting as domestic terrorism
The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime against Catholics, Director Kash Patel announced shortly before the latest press conference started.
The FBI is assisting the Minneapolis Police Department with the investigation. No motive has been reported yet, but social media reports are a part of the investigation.
Declining to confirm whether the incident was a hate crime targeting Catholics, O’Hara reiterated that authorities have not determined any motive in the shooting.
After the news broke, President Donald Trump said he was briefed on the situation and extended his support to the state in a phone call with Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Both Trump and Walz ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims.
Public officials decry violence at Annunciation Catholic Church
During Wednesday afternoon’s press conference, Walz said the young Catholic students were met with “evil and horror and death” during their first week back at school.
“There shouldn’t be words for these types of incidents, because they should not happen, and there’s no words that are going to ease the pain of the families today,” Walz added, expressing his “deepest sympathies” to the affected families.
The press conference was also attended by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who likewise denounced the “tragic and horrible” shooting. However, he did take the opportunity to speak out against deadly gun violence at schools and places of worship across the country.
“When we have seen school shooting after school shooting, when we have seen churches get shot up by horrible actors, I think the impetus has to be on all of us as leaders to do a whole lot more to recognize that we’ve got more guns in this country than we have people,” the Democratic mayor said.
Frey also opposed the vilification of the transgender community after reports that the shooter was born Robert Westman.
“Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity,” he continued. “We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone. We should be operating from a place of love for our kids.”
O’Hara declined to comment on the shooter’s gender identity but confirmed Westman’s name and age.
ANNUNCIATION CHURCH SHOOTING COMES AFTER DAYS OF VIOLENCE IN MINNEAPOLIS
Wednesday morning’s shooting was preceded by recent acts of violence in Minneapolis. There were at least three separate shootings between Tuesday and early Wednesday, including one outside a Jesuit high school.
O’Hara said two suspects were arrested in connection with the high school shooting, which killed one person and injured six more. The two suspects were present with the shooter, who remains at large. O’Hara said authorities are making “significant progress” in the case.
