Police have recognized the suspect who they are saying opened hearth exterior of a church at a Catholic college in Minneapolis, killing two kids and injuring 17 others, as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
An 8-year-old and 10-year-old have been shot and killed when the gunman fired via the home windows of a church on the Annunciation Catholic Faculty on Wednesday morning, police stated.
Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem additionally confirmed the id of the suspect, calling Westman a “deranged monster.”
Police and first responders work on the scene of a taking pictures close to Annunciation Church and Catholic Faculty in Minneapolis, Minneosta, on August 27, 2025.
Eva Claire Hambach/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
“This degree of violence is unthinkable. Our deepest prayers are with the youngsters, mother and father, households, educators, and Christians in all places. We mourn with them, we pray for therapeutic, and we are going to always remember them,” Noem stated in an announcement.
Driver’s license info reviewed by ABC Information describes Westman as a feminine, born on June 17, 2002.
A driver’s license photograph obtained by ABC Information exhibits Robin Westman, recognized because the suspect in Aug. 27, 2025 assault in Minneapolis.
Obtained by ABC Information
A reputation change software for a minor born on the identical date was accredited by a district courtroom in Minnesota in 2020, altering the title of a Robert Westman to Robin Westman, explaining the minor little one “identifies as a feminine and needs her title to mirror that identification.”
Police stated Westman is believed to be the one suspect on this taking pictures. Westman doesn’t seem to have an intensive or identified felony historical past, police stated.
Legislation enforcement officers collect exterior Annunciation Church following a mass taking pictures occasion, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 27, 2025.
Tim Evans/Reuters
Officers stated they’re wanting via info left behind to “attempt to decide some kind of motive” for this taking pictures. No explosives have been found on the scene, however a “smoke bomb” was situated by officers, police stated.
Annunciation church taking pictures suspect Robin Westman’s mom labored on the church till 2021, in accordance with on-line posts from the church. Westman additionally beforehand attended the varsity, the police chief instructed Minneapolis ABC affiliate KSTP.
“We imagine he had been a scholar right here, that his mother had labored right here prior to now,” O’Hara instructed KSTP.
Mom labored on the church
Within the title change software from 2020, Mary Grace Westman was listed as Robin Westman’s mom.
An August 2021 publish by the church, reviewed by ABC Information, introduced Westman’s retirement after 5 years of service on the church.
A 2020 publish by the church’s outgoing pastor described Westman as a parish secretary; a 2016 church bulletin introduced her hiring as an administrative assistant within the church’s enterprise workplace.
Officers wanting into YouTube movies
Officers are investigating a sequence of movies posted to YouTube believed to be related to Westman, in accordance with legislation enforcement sources acquainted with the matter.
Two movies, posted Wednesday morning and since eliminated by YouTube, present somebody flipping via dozens of pages of notes dated over the course of a number of months, which embrace what seems to be doodles of weapons, center fingers, and expletives. There are additionally repeated references to killing.
The movies, which depict handwritten journals and a show of high-powered weaponry, paint a portrait of an individual with a rambling and deeply nihilistic outlook, in accordance with analyses by legislation enforcement and ABC Information.
The writings within the notebooks and on the firearms, that are written in a mix of Cyrillic alphabet, English and different languages, point out a sequence of grievances, anger and ideations of hurt to self and to others.
The writings additionally seem to point out overt references to different high-profile college shootings and shooters.
In a single pocket book, there’s a sticker that claims “defend equality” with an LGBTQIA flag, overlaid with a gun. A gun additionally has writings in opposition to Israel.
Taking on a full web page of a pocket book is a hand-drawn birdseye view of the within of a church with pews. The drawing seems to point out the inside structure of Annunciation Church.
In one of many movies the shooter refers to private despair and apologizes to relations.
YouTube didn’t reply to a request for remark from ABC Information.
Households and family members reunite exterior the police barricades after a taking pictures at Annunciation Church, which can be residence to a an elementary college, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer/Reuters
Westman died on the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara stated.
The suspect approached the facet of the constructing and fired the rifle via the church home windows towards the youngsters and different worshipers sitting within the pews, O’Hara stated. Westman was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, and police imagine the shooter fired from all three weapons. Police stated Westman purchased the weapons lawfully and so they have been “bought just lately.”
Further firearms are additionally being recovered from the residences which are “associated to the shooter,” police stated.
O’Hara described the suspect as a “coward” and stated the taking pictures was a “deliberate act of violence” that’s “completely incomprehensible.”
“This sort of evil ought to by no means occur,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated.
Frey harassed at a second information convention, “Anyone who’s utilizing this as a possibility to villainize our trans group, or another group on the market, has misplaced their sense of widespread humanity. We shouldn’t be working out of a spot of hate.”
“Children died in the present day,” he continued. “This must be about them. This must be wrapping our arms round these households.”
ABC Information’ Katherine Faulders, Aaron Katersky, Josh Margolin, Luke Barr, Mike Levine, Sasha Pezenik and Megan Christie contributed to this report.
