MN- Minneapolis, mass shooting at church, multiple fatalities, possible explosive device found. Aug 2025

[tara83]

Thanks for the link, @fred&edna .
I do have an issue with the mayor of Mpls. seemingly defending his(the shooter's) community and by default, the shooter.
Anger and intolerance from anyone towards anyone else isn't right, but the mayor may not have correct knowledge and it's also too soon and it's not a good look .
So far there's been little or nothing in the media to indicate the perp was being mistreated by anyone.

More like he had severe mental issues; that his family may have tried to be supportive and get help for him ?
Or no real mental issues and was an injustice collector and was of an evil mindset from very early on ?
Sometimes people can claim mental issues when they're suffering from narcissism and rage over what they felt was injustice towards themselves.

We don't even know the names of the two students who were murdered and yet the mayor and prob. others are jumping to his defense (by default, but still) ?

My condolences to the families of the victims as it must be difficult to see the support for the perp.
Since the perp is deceased there's not a need for punishment or justice, but rather to ensure schools and places of worship aren't sitting ducks.
Perps rarely commit a mass shooting at banks, airports, and police stations as these places often have armed security.

There is nothing wrong with making sure our students are protected by armed security as well.
If it saves even one life, that is enough.

It sounds like the perp fired from outside of the school from a glass window. But that he died inside the building ?
Did he climb through the window after it was shot out ?

Was there already a security officer at the school --but maybe wasn't in the auditorium where they were having Mass ?
Still quite a few questions.
Imo.

The trans community did not commit this act. One individual did. JMO

 

[justtrish]

dbm

And what did his parents think they were for?

I think the handgun and the shotgun are both reasonable purchases, even for non-hunters. I am curious if the parents even knew they had 3 guns. I have an adult child that lives with me and I really don't have any idea what she has in her room. I feel certain she'd tell me if she bought a gun, but I don't check her room or look through her things. She can expect to have privacy while living with us unless I have reason to believe she is a danger to herself or others. Some homes are set up so that a parent might not even go near a child's room.. say a basement with a bedroom setup or a parent having a master suite on the first floor and the kid having a room upstairs. I just think it's very possible they didn't know there were guns purchased unless they were told.

 

[Sundog]

Was this an anti LGBTQ crime? No. Lets not deflect from the victims today.

My thoughts exactly. The victims here are the children, their families, the teachers and parish members.

 

[dotr]

Live on the local news CBS/WCCO --

An 11 year old survivor walked up to the news crew and said boldly, I have something to say.

With his grandfather's blessing, the news interviewed him. He talked about the fear. And bravery. A classmate five on top of him to protect him. That classmate was shot in the back. The young man said he's paying for him and all the victims in the hospital. Such courage.

Minneapolis Catholic school shooting survivor describes how friend saved his life: "I'm praying for you"

"My friend Victor like, saved me though. Because he laid on top of me. But he got hit," said fifth grade student Weston Halsne. "I was super scared for him. But I think now he's OK."

www.cbsnews.com

JMO

So touched when i saw this young survivor speak on tv, there is something very special about him.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

dbm

And what did his parents think they were for?

IIRC, the guns were purchased a few days before this mass shooting?? Am I recalling correctly? If so, I as a parent, would definitely be alarmed as to what was being planned. I don't like to pass judgment; however, the parents had to have known for years that they were dealing with a troubled son/daughter. I know that the mother signed paperwork changing Robert's name to Robin because of the gender identity.

I believe that the family was trying to accommodate him. Was he in therapy? It's my opinion that this child may have been deeply depressed and thought that he would be happier as a female. When it didn't change his "insides," he became more and more bitter. I just wish that he hadn't taken it out on innocent children. I guess that I just have to say that this young person was very selfish in the way that he left this world.

JMO.

 

[Megnut]

Live at link, vigil

Prayer services, vigil to be held for Minneapolis Catholic school shooting victims

Groups around the Twin Cities metro are holding services to honor and pray for the two children killed and 17 others injured in Wednesday's shooting at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Megnut]

Haven't heard this before, live on CBS WCCO -- shooter was a 2017 graduate of Annunciation.

 

[dotr]

The Waikato Times

www.waikatotimes.co.nz

''The suspected shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, graduated from Annunciation Catholic’s grade school in 2017, CNN is reporting.
Their mother also had previously worked at the school from 2016 to 2021, the broadcaster said.''

 

[Megnut]

Quote from the vigil

Darkness does not overcome the light.

 

[Sundog]

It’s just a big passive-aggressive F-U from someone who didn’t have the guts to say what they really wanted to their faces. (Based on some reading of their ‘Russian’ journal’, where there were many complaints about Mom.)

Exactly. Coward all-around.

 

[fcavanaugh]

I hadn’t caught up on the thread when I posted previously, noticed while reading through someone pointed out that the killer identifies as she (was too late to edit my post) which I would absolutely respect had she not been a cold blooded mass murderer of innocents.

To elaborate, I value, support and respect people no matter their race, gender/how they identify, sexual orientation, etc etc. as long as everyone from all communities is humane, civilized, treats others with kindness and respect.

My respect and support ends however for someone, ANY one individual or individuals no matter their respective heritage, community, how they identify that premeditates and perpetrates cold blooded murder/takes an innocent human being’s life/lives and the resulting collateral damage aka trauma their vile heinous actions cause to surviving victims, victims’ families, their own family, the community and society as a whole.

For me personally, though the killer identified and referred to as she, her gender identity is irrelevant in the context of the violence/murder she perpetrated at Annunciation church in MN which was filled with innocent little children, teachers, clergy members and other supportive adults just going about their day.

I’d feel the same way had the killer not been Transgender, and about any other member of society from any of the various communities that commits and/or have committed these atrocities which unfortunately have been many. This killer was an evil coward same as all other cold blooded hateful murderers/mass murderers that can’t control themselves and abide by societal rules and laws.

All of the above are my own thoughts and opinions and realize others may not agree. This is likely the last post I’ll make on the thread. It’s just all so very sad, infuriating, devastating. When will the carnage end?!

IMHOO

ETA-clarity

 

[Jw192]

If there was ever a case of a truly psychotic mass shooter, this is it. I thought James Holmes was the worst mentally I have seen but this takes it to another level.

Her journal entries have dates from months back. How didn't the family and close friends not pick up on this level of psychosis?! I don't believe for a second that the behaviours and little psychological tells (repetitive speech & actions/health paranoia/bugs in skin etc... psychosis trifecta) exhibited in the numerous (now scrubbed from YouTube) videos were anything other than a genuine case of psychosis. This is crazy (pardon the pun).

I understand that it's all very raw right now and ofc it is in a sense a very cowardly act, but mental illness is a very serious and unfortunately very overlooked issue (be it missed or ignored) which has time and time again proven to have the potential to end up in utter tragedy such as this. Sure she could have (and I wish she had have) just ended her own life, but mental illness isn't one glove fits all and it just doesn't work like that.
This woman was very unwell and I am baffled as to how warnings weren't raised long before now or some serious MH interventions put in place (maybe more will be revealed about that and I am very interested to find out).
This woman should have not have had the ability to buy those weapons and all that ammunition, I cannot wrap my head around it.

This is an absolute tragedy ALL round and my heart both breaks and is furious for EVERYONE involved.

MOO

 

[Nieves]

Another sad thing to me is that hate against trans people is already at an alltime high in this country and now it seems very likely to get even worse and put on other trans people who will be lumped together and had nothing to do with this.

I don't find conversations about gender appropriate. I don't care about gender. Someone here wanted to kill and succeeded. Terrible!

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I don't find conversations about gender appropriate. I don't care about gender. Someone here wanted to kill and succeeded. Terrible!

I think @tara83 was making the point that the killer being transgender is irrelevant to this case, but that fact will be used to further incite hate and persecution against transgender people, who are already widely hated and persecuted, are not particularly violent, and have no involvement in this crime.

 

[Chimera]

The trans community did not commit this act. One individual did. JMO

I didn't say they did, but the mayor putting a blanket disclaimer over people is not helping.
A lone shooter killed innocent kids.
That was my point about the link to the mayor including a community of people and not singling out the shooter, who apparently committed this heinous crime all by his lonesome.

The main takeaway from today's horrifying crime should be how to never allow this to happen again.

What about armed guards around schools and churches and bullet-proof windows.
Or take a look at bank and police station security measures.
I mention banks and other institutions that deal with amounts of cash, the security is in place to protect the money.
Of course, a child's life is worth more than any dollar amount.
Sounds impractical, but if it could save someone's child -- I say go for it.
Imo.

 

[Nieves]

The trans community did not commit this act. One individual did. JMO

I don't find conversations about gender appropriate. I don't care about gender. (It is my opinion). Someone here wanted to kill and succeeded. Terrible!

 

[mickey2942]

I was so sad tonight, listening to one of the survivors, a young boy, who said, "We do shooter drills all the time in class, but we never had one for the Church.".

I guess that they will now. How sad is it that kids have "normalized" active shooter drills?

 

[Sundog]

I was so sad tonight, listening to one of the survivors, a young boy, who said, "We do shooter drills all the time in class, but we never had one for the Church.".

I guess that they will now. How sad is it that kids have "normalized" active shooter drills?

I guess the norm now is that we will have to have shooter drills in church, for both children and adults. But not too many churches can afford to install ballistic glass over the stained glass windows which are objects of religious devotion and sacred to the community. Airports, banks, embassies, etc. take these protective measures, but not every religious institution can afford to do this.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Is it just me, or is this thread playing tricks with who posted what, replying to whom, and when?

 

[Sillybilly]

Hey folks,

This is true crime discussion with people from all over and from all walks of life.

We do try to be politically correct but to have to monitor or edit everything everybody says is difficult.

As for gender pronouns in these cases, we just ask that people simply use "they" or "their" instead of he or she / his or hers

So if you are unsure what is appropriate, it's really not that difficult

Examples:
What were they thinking?
I wonder how they could do such a terrible thing.
Their parents must feel ...

etc etc