New details, including the perpetrator's identity, have been released following a tragic mass shooting in Minneapolis.
The horrific situation unfolded at the Annunciation Church and Catholic School during a mass attended by students of all ages in their first week back at school, per NBC News.
Two children - aged eight and ten - were killed, and seventeen more were wounded in what authorities are now calling a “deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping.”
The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman, who was born Robert and legally changed their name to Robin three years ago.
The suspect’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, had served as a secretary at Annunciation School for five years before retiring in 2021.
Police were summoned just after 8:20AM when witnesses heard what sounded like semi‑automatic gunfire at the pre‑K through eighth‑grade school.
Investigators say the shooter, armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, fired dozens of rounds through the church’s side windows, striking children seated in pews during the mass.
A wooden plank had been used to block some side doors, and authorities discovered a smoke bomb - not explosives - at the scene.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that Westman died by a self‑inflicted gunshot wound in the school’s car park.
Authorities recovered a scheduled manifesto that was to be posted on YouTube and disturbing videos, including shots of handwritten pages.
Among the disturbing imagery were gun magazines marked with “kill Donald Trump” and “for the children,” scrawled in a disturbing blend of code, Cyrillic letters, and English phonetic words, per the New York Post.
The FBI has flagged the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism” and a “hate crime targeting Catholics.”
Chief O’Hara stated that Westman acted alone and had legally purchased his weapons.
At the local hospitals - Hennepin Healthcare and Children’s Minnesota - doctors tended to 11 and 5 wounded patients, respectively.
Of those treated, seven were critically injured; four required surgery. Yet in a later update, Chief O’Hara offered a sliver of relief, stating that all of those injured in the shooting were expected to survive.
Witness Bill Bienemann, describing the sudden eruption of gunfire, said it “went on ‘for several minutes – a long time for live gunfire.’”
“I know what gunfire sounds like, and I was shocked,” he said, per Sky News. “I said there's no way that could be gunfire, there was so much of it. It seemed like a rifle, it certainly didn't sound like a handgun, so he must have reloaded several times.”
His daughter Alexandra added: “It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that there's probably people I know that are injured or maybe have been killed.
"It doesn't make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been a part of for so long. Me and my friends were talking, and we said this is like our version of 9/11.”
In the aftermath, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the attack an “unspeakable act.”
“Children are dead,” he said. “There are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.”
He emphasized that this was not a time for mere prayers: “These kids were literally praying, it was the first week of school. They were in a church, these are kids that should be learning with their friends.”