Report: Church Shooter Was Former Annunciation Student

The suspect in Wednesday's mass shooting at a Minneapolis church full of children has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, law enforcement sources tell outlets including the AP and KARE 11. Sources tell the Minnesota Star Tribune that Westman's mother, Mary Grace Westman, is a former employee at Annunciation Church and Catholic School. She reportedly retired in 2021. Court records show that in 2019 Westman's mother applied to change her child's name in 2019 from Robert Westman to Robin Westman, saying the then-minor identified as a female. Sources tell the New York Times that Westman is believed to be a former student at the school.

• Former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer tells the AP that he is Westman's uncle, but he hadn't seen them in years. "He was my nephew, and I wish he had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren," Heleringer says. "I barely knew him."

• Police say the shooter fired through church windows, killing two children, ages 8 and 10, before taking their own life in the parking lot. Another 17 people, including 14 children, were injured.
• The New York Post reports that Westman is believed to have posted a disturbing video on YouTube hours before the shooting, discussing their decision to target Annunciation and their admiration for Sandy Hook mass shooter Adam Lanza. KARE 11 reports that Westman also displayed a journal, much of it in written in Russian. The Post offers some alleged lines: "Maybe I could attack an event at the on-site church. I 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."
• According to the Post, Westman posted another video displaying a cache of weapons, along with ammunition magazines with messages like "For the children," "Kill Donald Trump," and "Where is your God?" scrawled on them.
• Annunciation parishioner Renee Lego, mother of a 5th grader and an 8th grader at Annunciation Catholic School, tells the Star Tribune that the shooting was "obviously planned." "Both my kids have blood on them," she says. "It's just horrific—so cowardly. This person knew this was our first all-school Mass of the year. It was obviously planned. This is the children's Mass, not an advertised Mass for the public." She says that until he started to see people falling, her older son thought it was fireworks or a gas explosion.
• A 10-year-old student who was in the church tells Fox News, "It was super scary because, like we've never practiced it in the church. We've only practiced it the main school. So we really didn't know what to do. We just got into the pews and he shot through the stained glass windows."
• In a statement, Pope Leo expressed his "heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child," the Times reports.