Robin Westman, 23, was identified by police as the suspect behind the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis on Wednesday that left two children dead and 17 others injured.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Westman had opened fire at the Annunciation Catholic School from the outside, shooting through the windows of the affiliated church. The victims were attending a morning Mass when Westman began firing.
Westman was later found dead with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound behind the church.
While an investigation is underway, preliminary details paint Westman as someone with an inclination towards violence, mainly through videos linked to them which were scheduled for publishing on YouTube. Officials have taken the videos down and are reviewing them to determine possible motives for the shooting.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that the agency is investigating the shooting as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.”
Here’s what we know so far about Westman.
Once a student of the school
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Westman was one of three children of Mary Grace and James Allen Westman, who divorced in 2013 after 25 years of marriage. A since-deleted Facebook post from August 2021 said Mary Grace was retiring as a parish secretary of the church, with the post thanking her for her “wonderful hospitality, friendship and compassion.”
Westman attended the Annunciation Catholic School and graduated from eighth grade in 2017. The Star Tribune and CNN reported that in the school’s 2017 yearbook, Westman quoted French EDM band Daft Punk: “Work it. Make it. Do it. Makes us. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.”
The yearbook also indicated that Westman intended to attend Powell Leadership Academy in Minneapolis, one of many schools operated by Minnesota Transitions Charter School. An official from Minnesota Transitions Charter School confirmed to the Star Tribune that Westman attended one of its schools briefly before transferring to the all-boys school, Saint Thomas Academy, in Twin Cities suburb Mendota Heights.
Related to a former lawmaker in another state
Former Kentucky state representative Bob Heleringer told the Associated Press that he is Westman’s uncle, though he claimed he “barely knew” Westman.
“They [Westman’s family] never lived in Louisville. They lived in Minnesota,“ Heleringer said in a phone interview with the AP. “He was my nephew, and I wish he had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren.”
Had no prior criminal history
Minneapolis Police Chief O’Hara said Westman had no prior criminal history.
A search of Westman’s birth name in state court records showed some traffic citations in September 2021.
Worked at a cannabis dispensary
The Star Tribune also reported that Westman was an employee at Rise medical cannabis dispensaries. Westman’s co-worker, speaking to the Star Tribune, said the suspect worked as a personal care specialist interacting with patients in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program. Westman reportedly stopped working at an Eagan dispensary on Aug. 16 and had been previously disciplined for tardiness and absenteeism.
A spokesperson for Green Thumb Industries, the parent company, confirmed Westman’s employment for a few months earlier this year, though the suspect left the firm before the shooting. The firm told the Star Tribune it will cooperate with the investigation.
Appeared to have meticulously planned the attack
Westman’s attack appeared to have been calculated and premeditated, as backed by YouTube videos released on the day of the incident.
The videos, now taken down, appeared on a channel under “Robin W.” One video, which ran for more than 10 minutes, included a handwritten “manifesto” addressed to family and friends. In the video, the unseen cameraperson says, “I’m sorry to my family … that’s the only people I’m sorry to.” The clip also pans to an image of Jesus on a target.
Another video, which ran for almost 20 minutes, showed two notebooks with handwritten texts that also appear to be Cyrillic. Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
The New York Post transcribed parts of the journal. One page reportedly reads: “I am feeling good about Annunciation. It seems like a good combo of easy attack form and devastating tragedy and I want to do more research. I have concerns about finding a large enough group. I want to avoid any parents, but pre and post school drop off.”
Another page reportedly reads: “Maybe I could attack an event at the on-site church … think attacking a large group of kids coming in from recess is my best plan. … Then from there I can go inside and kill, going for as long as I can.”
O’Hara, in a press conference, confirmed that Westman “recently” purchased their guns—a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol—legally. The Star Tribune reported that a passage in the notebooks referenced how “shockingly easy” it was to buy a gun from a pawnshop.
Identified by federal officials as a transgender woman
Federal officials have identified Westman as transgender.
Westman was born as “Robert Paul Westman” on June 17, 2002, according to court documents TIME reviewed. Westman’s mother applied for their name to be changed to “Robin M Westman” in 2019 in Dakota County, and a court granted the change in 2020. According to the court document, Westman, a minor at the time, “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
But a translation of part of Westman’s notebooks by the New York Post’s Diana Nerozzi offered a more complicated view of Westman’s sexual and gender identity: “I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.”
Condemnation of transgender identity has been on the rise under President Trump, and many conservative and far-right personalities have latched onto Westman’s transgender identity as a springboard for more attacks. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, Ga.) posted on X, “If they are willing to destroy themselves and how God made them then they are willing to destroy others and we saw that happen today.” Right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer went as far as suggesting that “parents need to start coming together to advocate for trans kids to not be allowed to attend classes in public schools.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, however, quickly pushed back against any attempts to use the shooting as a means to demonize the transgender community, saying anyone who is doing so has “lost their sense of common humanity.”
Exhibited a fascination for mass shooters
The videos also hinted at Westman’s fascination with mass shooters. In one, the unseen cameraperson showed guns and weapons on a mattress with the names of at least 10 mass killers, including but not limited to the Sandy Hook shooter from 2012; the shooter at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018; and the mosque shooter in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.
Also seen in the videos was a sticker of German band KMFDM, which has been cited by perpetrators of previous mass shootings, including the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, though the band has repeatedly emphasized that it stands against violence.
Claimed to have links with a pro-gun Youtuber
In the 10-minute video, the person narrating claimed that they had met pro-gun YouTube personality and Texas congressional candidate Brandon Herrera last year at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in Las Vegas. The narrator said they had a “brief conversation” with Herrera. “Brandon Herrera for President,” they added.
After the shooting, Herrera denounced links to the shooter, posting on X: “I will not, nor will I ever say the name of the gutless coward who decided to take the lives of innocent people in Minneapolis today. My heart goes out to the family of those affected, but to the shooter, I have one thing to say in response. F-ck you. Burn in hell.”
In a separate post, Herrera added: “I don’t remember this individual at all, nor does anyone I was there with.” Herrera said that he was willing to cooperate with law enforcement and answer any questions.
A spokesperson for NSSF, which owns and operates SHOT Show, told Fox News that Westman’s name has not appeared among any of the show’s registered attendees last year or any of the years before.
Held a mishmash of views
The videos also alluded to a mishmash of views Westman appeared to have held.
In the 10-minute video, the camera panned over what appeared to be guns, ammunition, and loaded magazines. Words were inscribed on the magazines, including “Where is your God?,” “Kill Donald Trump,” and “For the Children.” Some of the inscriptions appeared to be in Cyrillic.
Clips that focused on Westman’s apparent arsenal not only included names of mass shooters but also showed phrases that had antisemitic undertones. A smoke grenade had the words “Jew Gas” written on it and the pro-Holocaust slogan “6 million wasn’t enough.”
Another notebook displayed a “Defend Equality” sign with an LGBTQ flag.
In an interview with local network KSTP-TV, Josefina Sanchez, a classmate of Westman in the seventh grade, said that a younger Westman would put up a hand and say, “Praise Hitler.”
Threats to kill Trump also appeared a few times on Westman’s gear. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said the White House will “continue to monitor” the situation.
‘I don’t expect forgiveness’
Westman’s four-page “manifesto” posted on YouTube begins with: “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 apologize for the effects my actions will have on your lives.”
Further along in the manifesto, Westman wrote: “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. 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.”
The post What We Do and Don’t Know So Far About the Minneapolis Shooter appeared first on TIME.
