 "Officials said the 23-year-old attacker was “obsessed” with the idea of killing children. Image: X")
Robin Westman was identified as the gunman who opened fire during Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, killing two students and injuring more than a dozen children.
The attack is the latest in a series of assaults on students that have continued since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.
Police said the attacker had once studied at the same school and was “obsessed” with the thought of killing children.
A goodbye note written by Westman to his family and friends also revealed the disturbed state of mind of the shooter.
In this explainer, we look at the note and what investigators have said about Westman.
Let’s take a look:
‘Deranged fascination’ with mass killings
Officials said the 23-year-old attacker was “obsessed” with the idea of killing children.
Westman fired 116 rifle shots through stained-glass windows while children attended Mass during the first week of the new term at the Annunciation Catholic School.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said, “It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorise those innocent children.”
Investigators collected hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three homes, O’Hara said. They found more writings linked to the attacker, but no extra weapons or a clear motive for the assault on the church once attended by Westman.
O’Hara said Westman had a “deranged fascination” with mass killings.
“No evidence will ever be able to make sense of such an unthinkable tragedy,” he said.
Acting US Attorney Joe Thompson said videos and writings left behind by the attacker showed that the shooter “expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe only group Westman did not hate was “mass murderers,” Thompson said. “In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us.”
Surveillance footage recorded the assault and showed the attacker never entered the church and could not see the children while firing through windows that faced the pews, the police chief said.
What Westman’s note reveals
On a YouTube channel, police said videos possibly uploaded by the attacker showed guns, ammunition and listed the names of known mass shooters.
What seems to be a suicide letter to family includes an acknowledgement of long-standing plans for a shooting and references to severe depression.
In the note, Westman claimed to have “traits of empathy, self-sacrifice, and good character” and said to have been raised “to be a good person”, while also admitting a “wanted” desire to kill innocent children, and at the same time asking for prayers for victims, The New York Post reported.
“I have wanted this for so long. I am not well. I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away. I know this is wrong but I can’t seem to stop myself,” Westman wrote.
“I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years. 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. I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees, constantly in pain,” the letter read.
“I did this to myself as I cannot control myself and have been destroying my body through vaping and other means. I think I have lung cancer,” Westman said, adding, “I do not want to recover.”
Throughout the note, Westman repeatedly offered regretful apologies to family and friends, including mother, Mary Westman, who worked as a secretary at Annunciation Catholic School.
“I don’t expect forgiveness and I don’t expect any apology. I have to hold much weight, but to my Family and those close to me, I do apologise for the effects my actions will have on your lives,” Westman wrote to family.
“Life is love, life is pain,” the note read. “I’m tired of the pain this world gives out.”
Westman later thanked friends for “showing me a good life and helping me through dark times” and placed blame on “the world” for creating too much pain.
Who was Robin Westman?
Federal officials described Westman as transgender, though the shooter’s gender identity was not clearly defined.
In 2020, a judge approved a petition signed by Westman’s mother to change the name from Robert to Robin, noting that the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Westman had once studied at Annunciation Catholic School. A former classmate recalled an incident when Westman hid in the bathroom to avoid attending a school-wide Mass.
Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, Westman went to the side of the church at Annunciation Catholic School and fired more than one hundred rounds through the windows shortly before 8:30 am local time on Wednesday.
Westman was later found dead in the car park from what authorities believe was a self-inflicted gunshot.
The weapons were bought legally, Westman had no record of arrest, and acted alone, according to the police chief.
FBI director Kash Patel wrote on X that the assault was an act of domestic terrorism driven by hate-filled beliefs, pointing to the attacker’s statements against several religions and threats of violence towards US President Donald Trump.
With inputs from agencies