Robin Westman transgender male id as Minneapolis Annunciation Catholic School shooting suspect that killed 2 young kids and injured 17, including 14 children as they prayed during return to school mass in Minneapolis. Shooter had no prior criminal history.
Two children have been killed after a gunman opened fire on a Catholic church in Minneapolis as the parish school was holding its start-of-year mass, Wednesday morning just on 8.15 a.m. Another 14 children were injured along with three adults.
The slain children, aged eight and 10, were shot dead as they sat in ‘packed’ pews during morning service at Annunciation Catholic Church.
Annunciation shooter confessed being tired of being trans & having ‘brain-washed myself’
At least 20 people injured and two killed in a mass shooting just now at Annunciation Catholic Church and its school in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Prayers aren’t working. We need action. If prayers worked a house of prayer wouldn’t experience this.
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 27, 2025
Annunciation church shooter lived with parents who signed off on gender change
The shooter, since identified as Robin Westman, 23, a biological male transgender living as a woman (who was formerly known as Robert) was dressed in all black and armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, fired off a barrage of bullets through the church’s stained glass windows as congregants, mostly children prayed after the gunman having barricading the doors, blocking them from escaping, fired up to 50-100 gun rounds, police said.
Seventeen people, including 14 children, were injured during the ‘deliberate act of violence’, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed.
O’Hara said the ‘coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church’.
Of the 17 injured, two children were in critical condition, O’Hara said during a 11 a.m press conference. Of note, all three weapons used according to police were purchased legally and recently the dailymail reported.
A yearbook obtained by CNN showed Westman, who was previously known as Robert, graduated from Annunciation Catholic’s grade school in 2017.
Annunciation school shooter posted YouTube manifesto under robinw
The suspected Minneapolis church shooter, Robin Westman, had a now-deleted YouTube channel with videos showing guns, a manifesto in Russian and English, and a church map. His content displayed extreme views, including pro-Russian, pro-Trans, pro-Communist, and anti-Trump,… pic.twitter.com/ESMCBj4H6M
— Himanshu (@H_Singh1708) August 27, 2025
Did Annunciation gunman shoot up school where he once attended as revolt against Catholic mom?
The shooting happened during a celebratory Mass marking a return to classes after a summer break, with the gunman firing through a window of the Catholic church. The shooter fired dozens of rounds from outside the church and shot from all three weapons, O’Hara told reporters.
Police are investigating whether a 20-minute YouTube video shared on an account hours before the shooting was connected to Westman.
In the video, a hand slowly turns the pages of a red notebook, which is laid out on top of what appears to be schematic gun diagrams.
Each page is filled with inscrutable handwritten scrawl, an occasional plume of smoke is seen from the bottom of the screen as the person turning the pages coughs and occasionally maniacally giggles.
Other videos show an obsession with mass shooters — including Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza who killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old, and 6 adult staff members.
On May 23, 2025, Westman wrote in a journal, ‘I have a deep fascination with one man in particular: Adam Lanza.’
Gun parts shared on video had the names of other mass shooters written on them – including the Sandy Hook gunman, Adam Lanza, the Norway shooter, Anders Behring Breivik, and the Abundant Life shooter, Natalie Rupnow.
Videos posted to YouTube show multiple weapons — including a semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun. Magazines were scrawled with ‘for the children’ and ‘kill Donald Trump.’ (see above video and below).
Transgender shooter fired 119 shots at kids he wanted to see suffer
BREAKING: The Minneapolis shooting suspect has been identified as Robin Westman.
The alleged shooter released multiple videos on social media, which showed that he clearly hated Christians. They have since been taken down.
“Where is your God?” read one mag.
Evil monster. pic.twitter.com/oyiCkqNwkw
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 27, 2025
Was Annunciation School shooter radicalised by online ideology?
A since-deleted YouTube account under the username ‘robinw’ posted numerous videos in the hours leading up to the shooting. In one video, the user showed off weaponry and gear that had writings on it, including the phrases ‘where is your god?,’ ‘kill Donald Trump,’ and ‘I’m the Woker, baby, Why so serious?’ Other phrases included ‘burn Israel’ and ‘6 million was not enough.’
In the same video, the user showed a target that had Jesus on it with ‘he came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owe a debt we cannot pay’ typed out underneath Jesus.
An analysis from the Anti-Defamation League noted that Westman’s writings containing antisemitic messages as well as other racist content targeting Christians, Jews, Black people, LGBTQ+ individuals, Muslims and Hispanics.
The suspect’s vehicle, which he parked inside the church lot, is being searched by authorities. A smoke bomb ‘firework’ was found on premises, O’Hara added.
Law enforcement sources said Westman grew up in Richfield and that her mother was an employee at Annunciation School, KARE11 reported.
According to court records, Robin Westman’s mother applied to change her child’s name in 2019 from Robert Paul Westman to Robin M. Westman in Dakota County, because she identified as a female. Because Westman was a minor at the time, her mother had to sign off on the change. According to the application, Westman ‘identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.’
🚨 BREAKING — CONFIRMED: Robin Westman (previously ROBERT Westman), the Minneapolis Catholic School shooter, was a MAN who “identified” as a woman
TRANS VlOLENCE MUST BE ADDRESSED NOW!
He began identifying as “trans” as a MINOR, and his parents signed off on it , per court… pic.twitter.com/F2oxomyhZ8
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 27, 2025
Annunciation Catholic Church shooting a deliberate act of violence
The gunman opened fire into the windows Annunciation Catholic Church on 54th Street around 8:15am local time.
Students and staff at Annunciation Catholic School, where classes just started on Monday, were attending mass at the time of the shooting according to The Minnesota Star Tribune. ‘
The shooter allegedly barricaded the doors with ‘two by fours’ to prevent people from being able to escape.
‘During the mass, the gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the mass,’ O’Hara said.
‘Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshipers that were inside the building.’
The chief added: ‘This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping.’
Police say no casings were found inside the church, meaning ‘most – if not all – shooting happened outside building’.
Preliminary reports told of the gunman firing off 50-100 shots at students and staff.
Dozens of children were evacuated from the church, seen crying and covered in blood as they were shuffled out.
Authorities have yet to say what led up to the mass shooting.
Annunciation Catholic Church and its connected grade school are located in south Minneapolis. Grades run from prekindergarten through to eighth grade. Monday was the first day of school.
