The suspected assailant in a Minnesota school shooting that left two children dead and 17 people injured on Wednesday has been named as Robin Westman.
The 23-year-old, who is not known to have a criminal history, is alleged to have opened fire with a rifle at Annunciation Catholic School, just days after the start of term.
Two children, aged 8 and 10, died in the shooting, which took place while morning Mass was being held.
Of the 17 people injured, 14 were children between the ages of 6 and 15. The other three were parishioners in their 80s, officials said.
Westman later died at the scene of a self-inflicted injury, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
“The sheer cruelty and cowardice, firing into a church full of children, is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara said on Wednesday.
The motive of the attack has not yet been identified, but FBI Director Kash Patel has said the murders are being investigated as domestic terrorism.
What do we know about the suspect?
Police have said they are aware of videos and possible writings released by the suspected shooter.
In two online videos that were later taken down from YouTube, a person identifying as Robin W shared a suicide note which spoke about suffering depression and about wishing to carry out a mass shooting.
In the videos seen by Euronews, the alleged shooter showed weapons and ammunition, some of which had sayings written on them, including “kill yourself” in Russian.
The messages included antisemitic and racist slurs, and references to other mass shooters, including the likes of Anders Breivik, a far-right gunman who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.
Journals were also depicted in the footage, including what appeared to be a drawing of the layout of the church where the shooting occurred.
Speaking to the AP news agency, former Kentucky politician Bob Heleringer confirmed that he was Westman’s uncle, but said he “barely knew” the suspect, before adding that he wished Westman “had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren”.
The alleged shooter’s background
Federal officials including US Homeland Security Secretary Kristie Noem have referred to Westman as transgender.
A 2017 school yearbook showed that Westman went by the name Robert, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Three years later, a judge approved a petition requesting that Westman’s first name be changed to Robin, as Westman identified as female.
Speaking on Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey warned that gender politics had no place in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainise our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate,” Frey said.
”Kids died today. This needs to be about them. This needs to be wrapping our arms around these families.“
In a post on social media, the White House said that US President Donald Trump had ordered flags to fly at half-mast on all government buildings until Sunday evening “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence”.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on Wednesday: “What happened here today will not be gone. Minnesotans will not step away. We’re standing with this community.”
“It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this,” he added.
Additional sources • AP
