Here’s Everything We Know About The Minneapolis Church Shooting Suspect So Far

Another senseless tragedy in the US this week after a gunman opened fire into a Catholic church in Minneapolis, Minnesota and killed two children before taking their own life.

The shooter, armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol turned up at Annunciation Catholic School at 8.20am and shot through the windows during Mass, killing an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. Another 14 children and three adults were injured.

The shooter has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman (formerly Robert Westman); a former student at the school. Here’s all the information that police have released about Westman thus far, much of it gleaned from videos and notes he left behind.

• ‘Identified as female’ and changed his name to Robin at the age of 17 – his mum signed off on the name change as he was under 18 at the time.
• Westman’s mum, Mary Grace Westman, worked at the church up until 2021.
• Limited criminal history.
• Westman blamed ‘vaping’ for ‘destroying my body’ and was convinced they had lung cancer.
• Posted videos online, including two on YouTube (since deleted) referencing suicide, ‘extremely violent thoughts and ideas’, and an apology to their family.
• At one point in the video, Robin stabs a hand-drawn blueprint of a church layout.
• Expresses a desire to ‘catch a big assembly on the first day of school’ and the intention to avoid parents as they may be armed.
• Video included racist and an antisemitic messages written on weapons, as well as a message calling for Donald Trump to be killed.
• Wrote notes in English and Russian.
• Fantasised about ‘being a scary horrible monster standing over powerless kids’ and expressed admiration for the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

One handwritten note said: ‘Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world.

‘I don’t want to kneel down for the injustices of this world. I want to die.

‘Unfortunately due to my depression, anger, and twisted mind, I want to fulfil a final act that has been in the back of my head for years.’

Here’s Robin as Robert, before the name change which was granted in 2020:

And so, going off the reports given by the media, the Minneapolis shooter was a transgender neo-Nazi who hated Trump and Israel, and who then decided to shoot up a church. Naturally there’s a load of chatter doing the rounds about false flags and whatnot, which is entirely possible but something which is doubtful we’ll ever know for sure. It is certainly strange that we know more about Robin Westman in 24 hours than we do about the lad who tried (and failed) to assassinate Trump last year, even after all this time.

It’s the 44th school shooting in the US this year alone, according to CNN.

More as it follows…

RIP to the victims and thoughts with their families and friends and the staff at Annuciation Catholic School.