RICHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — Investigators were examining the videos, writings and movements of the shooter who fired through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people, for connections to the church and its school to understand the motivation for the attack.
Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds Wednesday morning toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. The shooter then died by suicide, he said.
The children who died were 8 and 10. Fourteen other kids and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the chief said.
Mourners at vigil honor those killed and wounded
Just hours after the shooting, hundreds filled a nearby school’s gym Wednesday night, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and clergy members.
Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder — with hundreds more outside — Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the students trying to shield their classmates as the gunfire erupted.
“In the midst of that there was courage, there was bravery, but most especially there was love,” he said at the Academy of Holy Angels, a few miles from the shooting.
Rev. Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said they were almost to the end of the responsorial psalm, which spoke about light in the darkness. That’s when he heard someone yell, “Down down, everybody down,” as gunshots started.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne said he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.
“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” the 10-year-old said.
Authorities investigate motive for the shooting
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
Westman’s mother had worked at the church for five years, retiring in 2021, according to a church Facebook post that year. It’s not clear if Robin Westman ever attended the church or had been enrolled at the school.
O’Hara said police had not determined a motive. The chief said, however, that investigators were examining a social media post that appeared to show the shooter at the scene.
O’Hara, who said the wounded children are ages 6 to 15, said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors and that authorities found a smoke bomb at the scene.
On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the alleged shooter released at least two videos before the channel was taken down Wednesday. In one, the alleged shooter shows a cache of weapons and ammunition, some with such phrases as “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” written on them.
A second video shows the alleged shooter pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife.
In one video, the alleged shooter mentioned traveling to the nation’s largest gun show in Las Vegas and meeting Texas congressional candidate and gun rights activist Brandon Herrera, who has amassed a large following on YouTube as The AK Guy.
