Robin Westman, the Minneapolis church shooter, had just commenced a new position two weeks prior to committing a violent act that left two children dead and 17 others wounded at a Catholic facility, according to a statement from a neighbor to The U.S. Sun.
James Loveridge was shocked upon discovering his 23-year-old neighbor was identified as the perpetrator behind the dreadful incident at Annunciation Church located in southern Minneapolis on Wednesday.
“I recently spent time with them in their backyard. Everything seemed normal,” Loveridge remarked about his neighbors, the Westmans, including the suspect who legally altered his name from Robert Paul Westman to Robin M. Westman in 2020.
“I don’t understand any of this.”
Loveridge spoke highly of his neighbors and recalled Robin Westman appearing “content” just weeks before the tragedy at Annunciation Church, a school accommodating students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
“Never noticed anything. She appeared content merely two weeks ago. She had landed a new, promising job she seemed to enjoy. I once took her climbing,” Loveridge disclosed to The U.S. Sun during a phone conversation.
“And I just don’t understand how any of this happened and why.
“They’re a wonderful, kind, generous, amazing family,” Loveridge continued when asked about the shooter’s family.
“They’ve been the best neighbors I could ever imagine. And this is an absolute tragedy.”
SHATTERED INNOCENCE
The Minneapolis Police Department quickly responded to Annunciation Church on Wednesday following reports of gunfire at the premises shortly before 8:30 am.
A mass celebrating the first week of school was taking place at the church at the time Westman unleashed hell, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
“During the mass, a gunman approached on the outside of the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows, towards the children sitting in the pews in the mass,” said O’Hara.
“Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshippers that were inside the building.”
Witnesses reported hearing what sounded like 30-50 gunshots over a period of several minutes.
O’Hara said Westman was armed with a rifle, shotgun, and a pistol.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping,” the police chief added.
What we know so far:
- Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed while praying in pews
- 17 others were injured, including 14 children, and a local hospital is currently treating nine pediatric patients
- The suspect has been identified as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old man whose mother worked at the school until 2021, who died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot
- Westman uploaded a sick video manically laughing minutes before the shooting showing off disturbing messages written across multiple guns, including a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol with several magazines
- Sobbing children were evacuated from the church to reunite with their worried parents, with one boy overheard telling his dad, “I don’t feel safe”
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he was briefed and is “praying for our kids and teachers”
- President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation and ordered flags at half-staff to mourn the victims
O’Hara said that when authorities arrived at the scene, they began to provide assistance to the injured victims inside the church, and described in gut-wrenching detail how several children were hiding, shielding themselves from gunfire.
Authorities located Westman’s body in the rear of the church.
The police chief said Westman died from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed, 14 additional minors as well as three adults were injured, O’Hara said.
All of the injured victims are expected to survive, authorities added.
Annunciation Catholic School shooting timeline
TWO children have been killed and 17 injured after a lone gunman shrouded in a black outfit opened fire inside a Minnesota Catholic school.
Here is a timeline of how the fatal tragedy unfolded.
- On Wednesday morning at 8:15 am CT, students at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis gathered for their scheduled all-school mass
- Just before 8:30, Minneapolis police responded to a call that there was a shooting
- Cops say that a lone gunman in his early 20s fired a rifle, shotgun, and pistol through the windows as children aged pre-K through eighth grade prayed inside
- Two children aged eight and 10 were killed, and 17 others, including 14 children, were injured by the gunfire
- The shooter later died after appearing to take his own life at the back of the church
- At 9:32 am, the Minneapolis Police Department confirmed that the shooter had been “contained.”
SHOOTER’S DARKNESS
Westman, who was dressed in all black, attempted to block the building’s doors with a “two-by-four” plank, O’Hara, the police chief, said.
The gunman uploaded a video on YouTube showing off multiple weapons, bullets, and disturbing writings before committing the vicious attack.
Westman could be heard giggling and muttering while showcasing an apparent manifesto addressed to his parents, siblings, and friends.
The shooter even wrote disturbing messages on his guns and ammunition, with one of the weapons had “Rupnow” scribbled on it, an apparent reference to Nashville school shooter Natalie Rupnow.
Rupnow killed two and hurt six at her Christian school last December.
Westman’s handwritten letters to family and friends included a chilling message telling the readers to “pray for the victims and their families.”
“I love you all. I will remember you,” Westman wrote, according to the video shared on his YouTube page, which has since been removed.
A sketch of a church’s layout was included in his writing, but it’s unclear if the drawing depicted was that of Annunciation Church.
NIGHTMARE SCENE
A parent who was attending the church service said students were packed into pews when the killer opened fire.
“He just pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots,” the unnamed parent told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“This is terrible. This is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this.”
Endre Gunter Jr. was in the school year’s first 8:15 am Wednesday mass when he looked out the church window and saw the shooter approaching the building.
“Then he heard boom, boom, boom,” Denis Roberts, the child’s grandmother, told the outlet.
“A girl next to him got hit in the head. He saw flesh fly. Endre was shot in the stomach,” Roberts, who spoke to her grandchild after he got out of surgery, added.
Westman had a connection to the Annunciation Church through his mother, who retired from working there in 2021.
A motive for the shooting has not been established.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
