The suspect who opened fire in Minneapolis on a Catholic school during Mass has been identified by authorities as a person in her early 20s who left behind videos online with writings that referred to suicide.
The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting was identified as Robin Westman, 23.
The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after firing a rifle through the side windows of the Annunciation Catholic School’s church, aiming at children who were sitting in the pews, authorities said.
Two children, ages 8 and 10, are dead. Seventeen other people were injured by gunfire: 14 children ages 6 to 15 and three adults in their 80s who were parishioners in the church, officials said at in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooter was “a male” born under a different first name.
The suspect’s parent had filed for a legal name change to “Robin M Westman” in Dakota County in November 2019. The application was granted in January 2020, when Westman was 17, after a hearing.
The filing granting the name change said it was in the best interest of the minor child because the “minor child identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey warned against any hate being directed towards the trans community.
Anyone “using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity,” he said at Wednesday’s news conference. “We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone. We should be operating from a place of love for our kids.”
The suspect had no criminal history, officials said Wednesday
In the shooting, officials recovered a rifle, shotgun and a pistol used by the suspect that were all legally purchased recently by the suspect.
Authorities believe Westman acted alone. Search warrants are being executed at the church and three residences nearby that are related to the suspect.
“Additional firearms are being recovered from those residences as we speak,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
O’Hara said authorities were working to determine a motive and that police were aware of a “manifesto” that the suspect had timed to be released on YouTube.
“This manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings. That content has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI, and it now remains under active review by our investigators,” O’Hara said.
NBC News had earlier confirmed with law enforcement officials briefed on the matter that the suspect left behind videos posted online with writings that reference suicide, “extremely violent thoughts and ideas,” an apology to her family and a handwritten sketch of the interior layout of a church. It’s unclear whether that church was the one at Annunciation Catholic School.
O’Hara said that he could not confirm any relationship between the suspect, the suspect’s family and the church but that authorities are looking into that.
The city of Minneapolis said there is no active threat at this time.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.