Minneapolis School Shooting: What We Know So Far
The shooter, Robin Westman, had no prior criminal record and he legally obtained the weapons used in the attack, according to the police.
Two children, aged eight and 10, were killed and 17 others were injured in a school shooting in Minneapolis, United States, on Aug. 27, according to police.
The attack occurred at the Annunciation Catholic Church, which is connected to the Annunciation Catholic School.
Among the injured were 14 children and three elderly parishioners who were gathered to mark the first week of classes at the school.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that the victims were shot while “sitting in the pews at Mass” at Annunciation Catholic School.
Police identified the gunman as Robin Westman, 23, from suburban Minneapolis. Authorities said that Westman had no prior criminal record.
According to a yearbook cited by CNN, Westman graduated from the school in 2017. Social media records also suggest that Westman’s mother was employed at the school between 2016 and 2021.
Westman, who was dressed in black, fired shots through the church windows before taking his own life from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Officers recovered three firearms from the scene: a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, all legally purchased. Police said that Westman had recently obtained a permit to buy firearms.
O’Hara added that Westman had uploaded a “manifesto” to YouTube, which “included some disturbing writings.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has joined the inquiry. FBI chief Kash Patel stated that the incident is being treated as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crimes targeting Catholics.”
O’Hara told CNN that the surviving victims are expected to recover, with some of the injured children already discharged from the hospital.
US President Donald Trump announced that American flags at the White House and on all public buildings will be flown at half-mast until sunset “as a mark of respect for the victims.”
First Lady Melania Trump, in a post on X, underlined “the need for pre-emptive intervention in identifying potential school shooters.”
The school attack followed a spate of shootings in Minneapolis. Just hours earlier, three people were killed in separate incidents across the city within 13 hours.
In June, a gunman had targeted the homes of two state politicians in suburban Minneapolis. Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in that attack.
