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"This Is Evil": Shooter Kills 2, Injures 17 During Mass at Annunciation Church
It's hard to focus on anything other than this morning's tragedy at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, where an assailant opened fire from outside the building, shooting through stained glass windows at the Annunciation School students inside.
Two students, ages 8 and 10, were found dead in their pews; another 17 victims, 14 of them children, were injured. All of the remaining victims are expected to survive, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters this afternoon. The suspected killer, 23-year-old Robin Westman, died by a self-inflicted gunshot outside the church right as officers arrived, O'Hara says.
The Shooting
The school year at Annunciation, whose chapel and school sit side-by-side at 509 and 525 W. 54th St., began Monday. The 8:15 a.m. mass Wednesday was this year's first for 340 enrolled students.
"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 told reporters this morning, noting that the shooter was carrying a rifle, shotgun and pistol. "Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshipers that were inside the building... This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping."
“[The shooter] pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots," an unnamed Annunciation parent who attended the mass told the Star Tribune this morning. "He killed two kids... This is terrible. This is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this.”
Initial reports suggested the presence of explosives, but law enforcement officials say none were discovered at the scene.
The Suspect
Richfield resident Robin Westman, then known as Robert, graduated from Annunciation in 2017, WCCO reports. Law enforcement tells KARE 11 that the suspected shooter's mother, Mary Westman, worked in some capacity at Annunciation. (A sobbing Mary said she didn't know if her child was the killer, according to a Strib reporter who called her this afternoon.)
Westman allegedly left behind a deeply disturbing trove of videos before the shooting, including footage that appears to depict a manifesto. One clip scans a diary, written in English and Russian, that includes blueprint-like drawings of a church interior that the narrator stabs with a knife, the New York Post reports. Gun magazines scrawled with “for the children,” “kill Donald Trump,” and various racial slurs appear, and, at several points, a voice "maniacally giggles" while talking about suicide. One video demonstrates an "obsession" with mass shootings, the Post reports. Investigators believe the now-deleted YouTube videos and manifesto were created by Westman, O'Hara says.
Law enforcement raided Westman's Richfield apartment at 75th & Lyndale for evidence earlier this afternoon. Police say Westman acted alone, acquired all of the firearms legally and recently, and had no criminal history.
The Aftermath
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters this morning. “Every one of us needs to be wrapping our arms around these families giving them every ounce that we muster. These were Minneapolis families. These were American families.”
Added Frey at a later press conference: "I have heard about a whole lot of hate that's being directed at our trans community. Anybody who's using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity."
"Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes," Annunciation principal Matt DeBoer told reporters this afternoon, noting that teachers and fellow children raced into action to protect one another. "This is a nightmare, but we call our staff the dream team. We lost two angels today... we can't change the past, but we can do something about the future... please pray, but act to do something about this. We will recover from this, we will rebuild from this... we will be stronger when it's done."
“Instead of that joy and curiosity they were met with evil and horror and death," Gov. Walz told reporters this afternoon. "We often say this is unspeakable tragedy and there no words, well there shouldn’t be words for these types of incidents, because they should not happen... A situation that's unthinkable, but it's all too common, not just in Minnesota, but across this country; it's Minnesota's day today."
"Please join me in praying for everyone involved!” President Donald Trump, who spoke with Gov. Walz by today phone, posted to social media.
In a telegraph to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis, Pope Leo XIV expressed his "profound sorrow" and "heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child," according to the Vatican.
Richfield's Academy of Holy Angels, to which Annunciation serves as a major feeder school, will hold a gym vigil tonight at 7 p.m. Two anti-gun violence groups, Moms Demand Action and Protect MN, will hold a vigil at 8 p.m. in Lynnhurst Park.
Author's Note
I attended kindergarten through 8th grade at Annunciation, and my family belongs to the parish, so I can speak to the community's deep sense of interconnectedness.
When our beloved arts teacher Mary Strickland died earlier this year, for example, generations of Annunciation grads and parents gathered inside the auditorium to remember her. And today, when an act of evil inflicted unfathomable suffering on that community, we've heard accounts of the Annunciation family literally saving each other—students and teachers reportedly shielded smaller children from gunfire with their own bodies.
Members of my 2002 graduating class are exchanging texts, connecting through Facebook, and generally checking in on one another. The pain of Annunciation alumni is infinitesimal compared to what current families must be feeling, but we are all mourning together. My heart breaks. I know something needs to be done, I'm skeptical anything will be done, but we can't keep living and dying like this.
I'll leave with a note that DeBoer sent to members of the school and church, past and present, which my dad just texted me:
"In this time of darkness, let us commit to being the Light to our children, each other and our community. We will rebuild our future filled with hope—together. We love you."
