Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman wrote about regretting gender transition and chose massacre ‘outfit’: Live Updates

Robin Westman planned to wear a ‘girly’ outfit during ‘my shooting’, her chilling manifesto revealed.

Westman, 23, was transgender and legally changed her name from Robert to Robin because she ‘identifies as female’.

As she was planning the horror attack on Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Westman considered how she might dress during the rampage.

‘I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it,’ she wrote in the disturbing manifesto that was filled with hateful rhetoric and apparent confusion over her gender identity.

‘I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man,’ Westman continued.

‘I really like my outfit. I look pretty, smart and modest. I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting.’

Westman dressed in all black and was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol – during the attack. All three weapons were used in the massacre.

The killer’s manifesto also revealed that Westman had scrawled the names of other mass shooters on gun magazines.

Other phrases written on the magazines included ‘for the children’ and ‘where is your God?’, as well as a call for President Donald Trump to be killed.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have offered ‘prayers’ for victims of the deadly Minneapolis school shooting.

‘President Trump and the First Lady encourage the entire nation to join all of us in praying for the victims and their families as they face unimaginable grief and loss,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today.

The request for prayers comes as the City of Minneapolis identified an additional victim in the bloody massacre.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt branded killer Robin Westman as ‘deranged’ in her Thursday afternoon address.

‘A deranged shooter opened fire during morning Mass, killing an innocent eight-year-old and 10-year-old,’ she said.

‘This was the first morning Mass of the school year for these beautiful, innocent children and the sacred religious service was desecrated by an evil monster.’

Leavitt reitereated the FBI is investigating the shooting as an ‘act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics’.

Robin Westman penned a suicide note, addressed to ‘my family and friends’, before carrying out the deadly Minneapolis school shooting.

The killer, 23, claimed to be ‘corrupted by this world’ and had ‘learned to hate what life is’, the disturbing four-page note said.

‘I have wanted this for so long. I am not well. I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away,’ Westman wrote.

‘I know this is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years. Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world.’

Westman concluded by asking for ‘prayers’ for the shooting victims and their loved ones.

Robin Westman’s neighbors say the killer appeared to live a normal life and didn’t exhibit any suspicious behavior.

The 23-year-old lived in a unit at the Lynwood Commons Apartments complex, a roughly 10 minute drive away from Annunciation Church.

A neighbor claims Westman ‘didn’t stand out’ and appeared to be a ‘normal young person’, Fox News reports.

‘[Westman] looked like any other 20-something-year-old. Came into the building, ordered fast food, went to work, came home. [Westman] had friends. Nothing stood out,’ one resident said.

Another added that if Westman done ‘anything beyond sketchy’ that someone in the complex would have ‘called long before now’.

The pair also noted that Westman appeared to have a female roommate. Daily Mail has not independently confirmed that claim.

Pictured: A Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officer raids Robin Westman’s apartment after Wednesday’s shooting

Horrifying footage has emerged from inside the Annunciation Catholic School and Church showing children fleeing as a crazed gunman opened fire.

The grim clip, obtained by CNN, shows dozens of kids sprinting to the exit in Minneapolis on Wednesday as Robin Westman fired shots inside.

They can be seen anxiously leaving the place of worship as one adult asks: ‘Where is the shooter?’

Some look to be hunched over as if to keep a low profile over fears anymore bullets would be fired at them. Others also covered their ears as blasts rang out.

Amy Forchas rushed to work at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning with no idea her life was about to be upended.

Among the victims was her daughter, 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, who was critically wounded during the attack that killed two kids and injured 17 people.

Sophia had emergency surgery at her mother’s hospital and doctors were working to stabilize her in the ICU, her loved ones say.

‘Her road ahead will be long, uncertain, and incredibly difficult – but she is strong, and she is not alone,’ they wrote.

A nurse went above and beyond to comfort an elementary school student who was injured in Minneapolis massacre.

The little girl was ‘very scared’ as medical staff prepared to give her a CT scan at Hennepin County Medical Center.

That’s when a nurse manager decided to climb into the scanner with the child, trauma surgeon Dr. Jon Gayken told CNN.

‘She put a little lead on and held her hand and held her hair while she went through the scanner…so she didn’t have to go through it alone,’ the doctor recalled.

Staff usually evacuate the room during a scan, but the nurse put ‘herself basically in harm’s way of radiation’ to be there for the patient.

Robert Westman visited Annunciation Church weeks before carrying out a massacre during the parish school’s start-of-year Mass.

Westman, a former Annunciation Catholic School student, went to the church under the guise of wanting to reconnect with the Catholic faith, inestigators say.

It is believed that during the visit, Westman sketched the interior of the church, as seen in the shooter’s manifesto.

The killer is understood to have spent more than a month planning the deadly shooting.

The MSNBC star ripped reps’ ‘bullsh*t excuses’ on at 6:07am on Thursday after playing back a clip of a child explaining how they practice shooter drills in school but not in church.

Nine shooting victims are still in hospital after Wednesday’s horrific massacre at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.

Six patients ‘are in satisfactory condition’, Hennepin Healthcare CEO Dr. Thomas Klemond said during a Thursday morning press briefing.

He noted ‘five of those patients are children’.

Klemond says one child is currently in ‘critical condition’. One adult and one child are also in ‘serious condition’.

Robin Westman had few friends as a child and terrified his classmates with public salutes to Adolf Hitler, a former friend says.

Josefina Sanchez, who went to school with the killer, shared a short-lived friendship with Westman – then Robert – in seventh grade.

Sanchez claims it was clear ‘something was off’ with Westman, alleging the shooter had odd obsessions and demonstrated ‘erratic’ behavior.

‘He would put up his hand and praise Hitler,’ she told KSTP.

Sanchez claimed the killer’s manifesto was ‘triggering’ and reminded her of how Westman used to write in secret codes during their school days.

‘I think that’s a spiritual battle,’ she said of the manifesto. ‘I don’t think it’s this world, it’s demonic, I’m sorry, it is. I think we need Jesus. He needed him.’

Pictured: Robert Westman in an old yearbook photo

Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman originally planned to carry out the massacre from inside the church, it has emerged.

Westman, 23, ‘pepper-sprayed’ bullets through the Annunciation Catholic Church’s stained glass windows on Wednesday, killing two and injuring 17 others.

But investigators believe the killer initially intended to enter the church, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara revealed today during an appearance on CNN.

O’Hara said the shooter allegedly planned to enhter the church through the main doors after barricading the side enterances with two-by-fours.

Westman was unable to enter the church because the doors were locked.

‘A number of the doors had been locked once Mass began, which is part of their normal procedure,’ O’Hara said. ‘We believe that this step also played a part in ensuring this tragedy did not become that much worse.’

Pictured: Windows damaged during Wednesday’s shooting are boarded up at Annunciation Catholic Church

Robin Westman self-identified as a transgender woman and legally changed her name to Robert.

A name change filing from 2020 reveals Westman identified ‘as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification’.

Under Minnesota law, changing legal name is far more straightforward than if an individual wishes to change their official birth certificate.

Westman only had to petition for the name change, but if the killer had attempted to alter her birth certificate, she would need a doctor’s letter showing ‘medical certification of appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition.’

It is not known if the killer ever tried to alter her birth certificate and it is unclear how far along the gender transition process Westman was or if she had taken any gender affirming medications.

Authorities are looking for a motive for the shooter who killed two children in a rampage at Annunciation Catholic School.

Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds Wednesday morning toward the children sitting in the pews during the school’s start-of-year Mass.

Investigators were examining the videos, writings and Westman’s movements in an effort to determine a motive for the massacre.

Westman’s twisted manifesto was shared in a 20-minute-long video posted on her since-deleted YouTube account.

The shooter first showed off a kill kit of ammunition, magazines and firearms, while revealing a twisted obsession with school shooters, along with a dislike of President Donald Trump, and mockery of the church.

Westman also showed the camera pages of handwritten notes in a final letter to their family and friends. In the letter, she claimed to have cancer caused by a vaping habit.

Westman went on to write that they wanted ‘to go out on my own means’.

‘Unfortunately, due to my depression, anger and twisted mind, I want to fulfill a final act that has been in the back of my head for years,’ Westman wrote.

Other unhinged ramblings on Westman’s stash of magazines and guns revealed a hatred for Donald Trump and mockery of the Catholic church.

‘Take this all of you, and eat!’, ‘Do you believe in God?’ and ‘Where is your God?’, read some of the anti-church messages. ‘Kill Donald Trump,’ read another.

Westerman also appeared to be struggling with her gender identity, having complained in the manifesto that she was ‘tired of being trans’ and claimed she had ‘brainwashed herself’.

The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.

Court records seen by the Daily Mail reveal Westman, 23, was previously known as Robert, before changing her name in 2019.

According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman said she now ‘identified as a woman’.

But in a handwritten manifesto shared by the shooter in a YouTube video before opening fire, Westman appeared to question her decision.

‘I only keep [the long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,’ the killer wrote in a scrawled cryptic message.

‘I can’t cut my hair now as it would be an embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported.

‘It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.’

Westman also wrote about struggling with how to identify, adding: ‘I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.’

A hero police officer chased after Robin Waterman after the shooter opened fire on Annunciation Catholic Church.

The officer came into the church as shots were ringing out and ran off seconds later in an attempt to locate the shooter, one parent has claimed.

‘He was just a normal, every day beat cop. No special equipment, no special helmet or anything and he just immediately ran toward the direction of the shooter,’ Shea McAdaragh told CNN.

‘That’s when I knew I was safe, the children were safe, and we were able to start triaging the kids.’

A little girl who had been shot in the head during the Annunciation Catholic School shooting leaned on a community member for help after the terrifying rampage.

Pat Scallen, who lives near the church, rushed to Annunciation after he heard gunshots ring out.

He saw wounded children outside the building, recalling how they were ‘very frightened’ and ‘wanted their mom and dad’.

‘I sat them down and just tried to keep them calm, and I was watching them close to see if there’d be any change in their status,’ he told ABC News.

He said a young girl who was struck in the head asked: ‘Please just hold my hand.’

Annunciation Catholic School’s start-of-year mass was thrown into ‘complete chaos’ when Robin Westman opened fire on the liturgy.

Eleven-year-old student Chloe thought she was ‘going to die’ when the rampage began, her father Vincent Francoual said.

He rushed to the campus after tragedy struck in hopes of rescuing his little girl.

‘It was very emotional. She saw me first, and she just cried,’ Francoual told The Mirror. He claims Chloe is ‘not really talking much’ about the incident and feels ‘guilty’ that she was unable to help her classmates.

Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told reporters he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was lying 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.

A youth minister who was sitting inside the church with the children said the attack lasted around two minutes.

‘I was just feet away from this window where it was,’ Ellie Martens added. ‘The pew saved my life’.

Robin Westman had been preparing the attack on Annunciation Catholic Church for over a month, the killer’s manifesto reveals.

Westman, 23, left behind a notes, largely written in Cyrillic letters, detailing her plan for the August 27 massacre.

In notes dated back to late July, Westman wrote that plans were ‘moving swiftly into place’ and she was ‘feeling good about Annunciation’, BBC reports.

The killer decided the school was a ‘good combo of easy attack for me and devastating tragedy’.

She initially considered targeting a ‘big assembly on the first day of school’, the manifesto revealed, but ultimately decided it was too risky.

The shooter attempted to visit the school ahead of the shooting because she wanted to check how many students were there and ‘make sure this place is worth attacking’.

But Westman was not able to clearly see as she drove by the campus.

The first day of school was August 25. It is unclear when the drive-by took place.

Haunting 911 audio has captured the unfolding horror as first responders rushed to the scene of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Catholic school’s church.

‘Minneapolis has a possible active shooter,’ one of the first responders said, as others were advised to bring as much medical equipment to the shooting as possible.

Another responder relayed over the radio, first revealed by FOX 9: ‘Bring all the gauze that you have.’

As hospitals were told to prepare for a mass casualty event, the dispatch audio heard one responder say there were ‘two DOAs inside the church’ – meaning two would be ‘dead on arrival’.

‘We have… two patients with gunshot wounds to their heads in front. There’s also a critical patient in the rear of the church,’ another responder said over the radio.

It’s unclear when classes will resume at Annunciation Catholic School after the deadly shooting attack during students’ first week of class.

Principal Matthew DeBoer and Pastor Dennis Zehren mourned the loss of two ‘beloved students’ killed in Wednesday’s attack and called for prayers in an update to the school and Annunciation Church community.

The message said the school and church were working with ‘a myriad of professional agencies’ and that it would take time for the community to get back on its feet.

‘As we process and navigate this unfathomable time together, we will be in touch this weekend regarding when school will resume.

‘Investigators and others are still on campus doing their essential work and we expect this to continue for some time,’ the statement read.

School officials will also announce available support services in coming days, according to the Facebook post, which stressed unity as students, parishoners and their families endure ‘an impossible situation together.’

The message concluded: ‘No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks.
But we will navigate this – together.’

Just hours after Robin Westman opened fire through the windows of Annunciation Catholic School, hundreds crowded inside a nearby school’s gym, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Gov. Tim Walz and clergy members.

Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday night, while hundreds more waited 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, about 2 miles away from the site of the massacre.

The Rev. Dennis Zehren was to give a sermon to the congregation that Wednesday. At the vigil held later that night, his face and eyes were red against his white vestments.

When asked what he planned to tell the students on their first week of school, emotion choked his voice.

At the vigil, Archbishop Bernard Hebda addressed some 2,000 people, where psalms were sung and the silences burrowed deep in the wide room.

‘I can understand why someone could resonate with the Psalmist’s question: “Why, oh God, have you forgotten me?”‘ Hebda said. ‘The example of Mary, a mother and a disciple who knew great suffering in her own life, should give each of us courage and hope.’

Robin Westman shot through stained glass windows at children sitting praying on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday.

Westman, a transgender woman who changed her name from Robert in 2019, was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, police said. 

Westman, 23, fired all three weapons, which police said were purchased legally, during the attack.

In a deranged video posted on YouTube, the shooter explained how she was ‘feeling good’ about committing a ‘devastating tragedy’ at Annunciation Catholic School.

Westman also showed a rifle magazine labeled ‘For the children, hahahahahahaha.’

Westman, previously known as Robert, petitioned to have her name changed in 2019. According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman asked the court to change her name to Robin.

Westman’s mother Mary sign the application for a name change as she was still a minor at the time.

The petition was later approved in January of 2020, it adds that Westman: ‘Identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.’

But Robin appeared to have some confusion about her gender.

‘I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man,’ she wrote.

‘I really like my outfit. I look pretty, smart and modest. I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting.’

The Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced transphobia after the revelations about Westman’s identity.

Minneapolis is in mourning today after Robin Westman opened fire on praying students and staff yesterday.

Police are continuing their investigation into the fatal massacre as community members rally together to support the victims and their families.

Prayer services and a news briefing are expected to take place throughout the day as the city seeks a path forward.

Here are the events scheduled for Thursday:

• Prayer service of peace and healing: Cathedral of St. Paul, 12pm CT (1pm ET)
• News briefing: Minneapolis City Hall, 1pm CT (2pm ET) – The briefing will be attended by state lawmakers, gun violence activists and clergy members.
• Interfaith service: Basilica of St. Mary, 5.30pm CT (5.30pm ET)

Robin Westman, 23, posted a suicide note to a now-deleted YouTube page just hours before shooting through stained glass windows at children sitting on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church on Wednesday morning.

The shooter explained in a note the reason for carrying out the attack in Minneapolis, while apologizing to her family and friends – and offered one final request.

‘Pray for the victims and their families,’ Westman concluded her rambling note, despite having a rifle magazine labeled ‘For the children, hahahahahahaha.’

Earlier in the letter, Westman wrote about struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts for years – which were apparently aggravated by the belief she was dying of cancer from vaping.

Robin Westman, 23, then a boy known as ‘Robert’, wrote an ode to death titled ‘But Not The End’ outlining concerns death would come with ‘regrets that my name not be known for something more’, according to the Star Tribune.

The chilling note came from Westman’s time as a pupil at St. Thomas Academy, a Catholic all-boys school in Mendota Heights, Minneapolis, where students are referred to as cadets, wear uniform and are trained in military skills.

It was one of several schools Westman attended during a seemingly turbulent childhood that included going to one school for just three months, watching a parental divorce and struggling with his gender identity.

The FBI has described Westman’s attack as a hate crime against Catholics, while police are still investigating the motive.

Pictured: Robin Westman in her 2021 high school graduation photograph

Minnesota shooter Robin Westman’s mother appeared distraught over the horrific massacre at Annunciation Catholic School.

Westman, whose mother Mary formerly worked at the school, was broken down in tears when the Star Tribune called her in wake of the tragedy.

The newspaper approached Mary just a few hours after the rampage and appeared ‘distraught’ as she cried on the phone.

She said at the time that she did not know if her daughter was the shooter.

Mary provided ‘wonderful hospitality’ at the school before her 2021 retirement and has five other children.

Westman, previously been known as Robert, petitioned to have her name changed in 2019 because she ‘identifies as a female’. According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman asked the court to change her name to Robin.

Mary signed the application for a name change as she was still a minor at the time.

Pictured: Mary and Robert Westman

Annunciation Catholic School shooter Robin Westman had been planning an act of violence for a long time, a former co-worker has claimed.

Westman, 23, had been working at a cannabis dispensary in Eagan, about 17 miles from Minneapolis, until August 16 this year.

The shooter voluntarily left her role at Rise, with a colleague alleging the decision came after a series of disciplinary action.

The co-worker, speaking to the Star Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said Westman had been disciplined for tardiness and skipping work.

The employee also alleged Westman made comments during her employment that suggested ‘recent events have been the catalyst for this thing [she] has been planning for a long time’.

A spokesperson for Rise’s parent company Green Thumb Industries confirmed Westman had worked at the dispensary for several months this year, but was not an employee at the time of Wednesday’s horrific shooting.

‘We are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today in Minnesota,’ the spokesperson said, adding that their ‘deepest condolences go out to the victims, their families and the entire community impacted by this senseless act of violence’.