A document believed to be a video “manifesto” from the suspect in this week’s Minneapolis Catholic school shooting appears to detail planning for the attack, according to investigators and media analyses. Police have identified 23-year-old Robin Westman as the person who fired through church windows at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, just as students were attending a back-to-school Mass.
Two children—an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old—were killed in the pews. Seventeen others were injured, including 14 children and three parishioners in their 80s. Outside Hennepin Healthcare, Dr. Thomas Wyatt said the hospital activated a mass-casualty response: seven patients arrived in critical condition and four required immediate surgery. Of the 11 treated there, nine were children between six and 14 years old.
Authorities said Westman had attended the school for at least a year and was seen around the campus in the days before classes began. Westman’s mother previously worked at the school until her retirement in 2021. Court records indicate that at age 17, Westman sought a legal name change in 2020, noting a desire for the name to reflect a female gender identity.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that Westman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene. He said detectives are reviewing a video posted to YouTube that appears to show the suspect paging through a journal and speaking about plans—material investigators hope will clarify motive.
An analysis by BBC Verify said the journal is written in Cyrillic characters and includes passages where Westman weighs when and where to attack “a large group of kids,” expressing a desire to “catch a big assembly on the first day of school” while avoiding times when parents might be present and potentially armed. The Independent reported that several of the 17 injured victims remained in critical condition on Wednesday, with injuries ranging from superficial graze wounds to life-threatening gunshot wounds.
On Thursday morning, O’Hara told the Today Show that all of the injured are expected to survive.
As Minneapolis grieves, thoughts are with the families, students, staff, and parishioners affected by this tragedy.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or go to 988lifeline.org, to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
