The Annunciation Catholic School shooting suspect has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
Westman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene after opening fire during Mass at around 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a press conference.
Two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed, and 17 people were injured.
What To Know
- Westman’s mother served as a parish secretary at the school and church until her retirement in 2021, according to local media.
- Court records show that Westman, who lived in Richfield, Minnesota, applied to change their name from Robert to Robin in 2020, aged 17. The documents state that Westman “identifies as female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
- Police said that Westman shared a manifesto on YouTube that was scheduled to be published at the same time as the mass shooting.
- “This manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings,” O’Hara said. “That content has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI, and it now remains under active review by our investigators.”
- FBI director Kash Patel said the agency is investigating the mass shooting “as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.”
- Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences Wednesday after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, calling it a “terrible tragedy.”
- Annunciation Catholic School has 370 students, from kindergarten to eighth grade.