Authorities are working to learn the motive of the shooter who fired into a Minneapolis Catholic school’s church during Wednesday’s Mass, killing two children and injuring 17 worshippers.
Officials identified the shooter as Robin Westman, 23, and said Westman was found dead in the parking lot from what they believe was a self-inflicted gunshot. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said authorities were searching a vehicle in the parking lot believed to be the shooter’s and three associated residences in the area. They also were scouring content that Westman allegedly scheduled to be released on YouTube and has since been removed from the platform.
The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics, officials said.
What authorities said
The shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church at Annunciation Catholic School and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass just before 8:30 a.m.
O’Hara said Westman used all three weapons and fired dozens of rounds. Westman tried to barricade the doors with a wooden plank on the side of the church where he was shooting.
Westman legally purchased the weapons, had no known criminal history and acted alone, the chief said.
The shooter’s mother worked at Annunciation
An August 2021 post on the Facebook page for the Church of the Annunciation celebrated the retirement of Mary Grace Westman after five years working there. A church newsletter from 2016 announced her hiring as a new administrative assistant in the business office and said she was a member of Saint Agnes Church in St. Paul.
It is not clear if Robin Westman ever attended church, visited the grounds or was enrolled in school at Annunciation. A phone call and text message to a cellphone number listed as belonging to Mary Grace Westman was not answered Wednesday afternoon.
Associated Press reporters attempted to reach the shooter’s father at an address listed as his residence, but nobody answered the door. Phone calls and text messages to numbers associated with Robin Westman’s siblings also were not answered.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese declined to answer questions when approached at the church Wednesday.
What else is known about the shooter
Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned anyone who would use the shooting to villainize the transgender community.
In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Westman’s uncle, former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer, told The Associated Press that he barely knew Robin Westman but was watching coverage of Wednesday’s tragedy.
When reached by phone, after a long pause, Heleringer initially said, “I don’t know what to say.”
“I wish he had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren,” Heleringer added.
Heleringer said Robin is the youngest child of one of his sisters. He said he last saw Robin at a family wedding several years ago but has not had contact with Robin since then.
What was posted online
Police said they were aware of time-released video and writings that may have come from the shooter. On a YouTube channel titled “Robin W” there were at least two videos posted before the channel was taken down by site administrators. The videos never show the face of the person speaking.
In one video that was about 10 minutes long, a cellphone camera pans to show a cache of weapons, ammunition and loaded magazines with sayings written on them including “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” Some were written in Cyrillic.
During the video, the person filming sings the word “tomorrow” and says, “I’m sorry to my family… that’s the only people I’m sorry to.” Also, “I regret everything. I didn’t ask for life. You didn’t ask for death.”
At one point, the person holds up a smaller firearm from the cache and says, “This one is for me. In case I need it.”
The video also shows a letter written to the person’s family, apologizing for what the shooting will mean for them, expressing love for them, and saying to change their name and “move on.”
A second, almost 20-minute-long video shows two different journals. The first is more than 150 pages, all written in what appears to be the Cyrillic alphabet. The second journal had a last entry dated 8-21-25 and was more than 60 pages and also written entirely in Cyrillic.
The second notebook had a sticker on the inside cover depicting a semiautomatic AK-style rifle on top of a trans equality pride flag. Next to it was a sticker for the band KMFDM. One of the shooters in the 1999 Columbine School shooting posted the band’s lyrics on his website prior to the rampage.
The German industrial band has issued statements repeatedly condemning violence and school shootings. But in several high profile shootings since Columbine, shooters have had shirts, stickers or other references to the band as a reference to the Columbine shooting.
During the video, the person can be heard mumbling and breathing heavily. “I’ll probably just upload a video on the day,” the person says before flipping to what appears to be a drawing of the layout of a church, pointing to two outside windows and then stabbing the illustration with a long knife.
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Lauer reported from Philadelphia, Schreiner from Shelbyville, Kentucky, and Fingerhut from Des Moines, Iowa. AP writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
