The shooter who killed two children and injured 17 others in a mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school’s church has now been identified as a 23-year-old transgender woman whose mom used to work at the school and who harbored a disdain for President Donald Trump.
Robin Westman shot through stained glass windows at children sitting praying on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday.
Westman, a transgender woman who changed her name from Robert in 2019, was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, police said. Westman fired all three weapons, which police said were purchased legally, during the attack.
Two children aged eight and 10 were killed and at least 17 other victims – 14 children and three 80-year-old parishioners – were injured.
The shooter then turned the gun on herself. Westman’s body was found inside the church.
Westman, who was identified by police sources to multiple outlets, did not have a criminal history and the motive remains a mystery.
However, a chilling video shared on a now-deleted YouTube account appears to reveal the killer’s sick manifesto.
In the 20-minute-long video, the 23-year-old showed off her kill kit of ammunition, magazines and firearms and revealed her twisted obsession with other school shooters, dislike of Trump and mockery of the church.
Robin Westman, 23, was named as the shooter who killed two children at Annunciation Catholic School’s church Wednesday
The 23-year-old showed the camera pages of handwritten notes to family and friends as well as a stash of ammunition
The shooter stormed the Annunciation Catholic School’s Church and killed at least two children
Westman also showed the camera pages of handwritten notes in a final letter to her family and friends.
In the letter, Westman said she believed she had cancer caused by a vaping habit.
‘I think I am dying of cancer. It’s a tragic end as it’s entirely self inflicted. I did this to myself as I cannot control myself and have been destroying my body through vaping and other means,’ the shooter wrote.
Westman went on to write that she wanted ‘to go out on my own means’.
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‘Unfortunately, due to my depression, anger and twisted mid, I want to fulfill a final act that has been in the back of my head for years,’ Westman wrote.
The note was signed with the name ‘Robin M Westman, 2002-2025’ and what appeared to be a bird drawing.
As well as the warped letter, the video also showed a stash of gun cartridges, with white writing scrawled on them.
Several school shooters’ names including ‘Lanza’ for Sandy Hook mass shooter Adam Lanza was seen on some of the cartridges.
One of the other cartridges was labeled: ‘For the children.’
Other unhinged ramblings on his stash of magazines and guns revealed his hatred for Donald Trump and mockery of the church.
‘Take this all of you, and eat!’, ‘Do you believe in God?’ and ‘Where is your God?’, read some of the anti-church messages.
‘Kill Donald Trump,’ read another.
Some of the scribbles also appeared to have been written in German.
The video also showed large pieces of wood with ‘No escape’ written across them.
Robin Westman is a transgender woman who changed her name from Robert in 2019
As well as the warped letter, the video also showed a stash of gun cartridges, with white writing scrawled on them
The video also shows large pieces of wood with ‘No escape’ written across them
Police said at least two of the church doors appeared to have been blocked by two by fours before the shooting, suggesting the shooter wanted to trap the people inside.
At another point, the video showed what appeared to be a drawing of the school’s church.
It then showed a hand stabbing the drawing repeatedly as the voice behind the camera said: ‘I’m going to kill myself.’
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, police confirmed the YouTube manifesto belonged to the killer.
Searches have been executed at homes connected to the shooter.
Police said that more guns were found at the properties.
It has since emerged that Westman’s mother was an employee at the school she targeted, before she retired in 2021.
Court records seen by the Daily Mail reveal Westman had previously been known as Robert, having petitioned to have her name changed in 2019.
According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman asked the court to change her name to Robin.
Westman had her mother Mary sign the application for a name change as she was still a minor at the time.
The petition was later approved in January of 2020, adding that Westman: ‘identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.’
Court receipts indicate her family paid $311 in fees to have her name changed to Robin.
Police said the shooter parked her vehicle near the school before the attack.
Westman then fired ’50 to 100 shots’ as students and staff were sat in pews and ‘killed two kids,’ a heartbroken parent who attended the mass told The Star Tribune.
It is unclear if the shooter fired any of the weapons from inside the church or carried out the entire mass shooting outside before going inside.
A total of 14 children, aged between six and 14, are now being treated at hospitals, and two of the students are in critical condition, police said. All the children are expected to survive.
The three adult victims injured in the attack were church parishioners in their 80s.
‘The coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church,’ said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who added that the shooter acted in a ‘deliberate act of violence’.
Police enter the alleged suspect’s house in south Minneapolis following the mass shooting
Parents await news of their children after a reported mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School church
The shooter stormed the school’s church Wednesday morning. The church is pictured in 2017
‘This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping.
‘The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,’ said the police chief.
The students at the Catholic grade school had started school on Monday and were attending mass at the church to bring in the new school year.
Recent social media posts from the school show children smiling at a back-to-school event, holding up summer art projects, playing together and enjoying ice pops.
The Catholic school teaches students pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Senator Amy Klobuchar told MSNBC a seven-year-old watched as the gunman shot her friends in the back and neck.
‘These kids are doing an all-school Mass and had to watch several of her friends get shot — one in the back, one in the neck,’ Klobuchar said.
‘And they all got down under the pews.’
Harrowing images showed terrified parents outside the church as they waited for news of their children
A state trooper embraced someone in a hug at the scene of the shooting Wednesday morning
Children were being escorted out of the school and church by their parents following the attack
Harrowing images showed terrified parents outside the church as they waited for news of their children.
The school was evacuated, and students’ families later were directed to a ‘reunification zone’ at the school. Outside, amid a heavy uniformed law enforcement presence, were uniformed children in their dark green shirts or dresses. Many were trickling out of the school with adults, giving lingering hugs and wiping away tears
President Donald Trump has been ‘fully briefed on the tragic shooting’ and says the White House will ‘continue to monitor this terrible situation’.
Governor Tim Walz added: ‘I’ve been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and will continue to provide updates as we get more information.’
‘The BCA and State Patrol are on scene. I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.’
‘I’m monitoring reports of horrific violence in South Minneapolis. I’m in touch with Chief O’Hara and our emergency response team has been activated,’ Mayor Jacob Frey said.
‘We will share more information as soon as we can. Please give our officers the space they need to respond to the situation.’
Seven people were shot, one fatally, in a separate mass shooting near a Catholic high school in south Minneapolis yesterday reported Kare11.
Police said the suspect, who escaped in a vehicle and does not appear to have been arrested since, fired around 30 rounds from a high-velocity .223 rifle.
Authorities have not confirmed any connection between the shootings.