The Minneapolis school shooter had broken up with a romantic partner before carrying out the horrific attack, it has emerged.
Robin Westman, who identifies as a transgender woman, had been involved with a ‘significant’ partner, but the relationship recently ended, the killer’s father told police. The gender of Westman’s former ‘romantic partner’ is unclear.
The killer had been staying with a friend in the aftermath of the break-up, according to a search warrant obtained by FOX 9.
Westman’s neighbors at the Lynwood Commons Apartments complex, a roughly 10 minute drive away from Annunciation Church, claimed the killer appeared to have a female roommate.
It is unclear if the shooter was living at the complex with the friend or the former partner.
Westman on Wednesday fired 116 rifle rounds through stained-glass windows at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis while school children celebrated Mass. The mass shooting killed two students, ages eight and 10, and left 18 others injured.
Investigators recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences associated with the 23-year-old shooter.
They found hate-filled writings from the suspect and detailed plans for the massacre, but no clear motive for the attack on the church the shooter once attended.
Westman had a ‘deranged fascination’ with mass killings and suggested in the manifesto that there was not one singular motive for the attack.
Robin Westman (pictured) recently ‘broke up with a significant and/or romantic partner’, the killer’s father told police
Memorials are constructed outside Annunciation Catholic Church where Westman shot and killed two children and injured 18 other people
Westman’s neighbors say the killer appeared to live a normal life and prior to the mass shooting had not exhibited any suspicious behavior.
One neighbor claimed 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,’ the resident told the outlet.
Another neighbor added that if Westman done ‘anything beyond sketchy’ that someone in the complex would have ‘called long before now’.
Westman – armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol – opened fire through stained class windows at Annunciation Catholic Church and students and staff participated in the back-to-school mass. Two children were killed and 18 people injured.
The shooter was found dead behind the church from a self-inflicted gunshot. Westman was wearing black ‘tactical’ gear and had at least two long guns with her, according to the warrants reviewed by FOX 9.
Officials have recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three associated residences in the area.
During a search of Westman’s father’s home, police seized a Condor tactical vest with ‘various attachments not related to law enforcement/security,’ the search warrant states. Officers also recovered two external media storage devices and a collection of documents.
Teachers said that Westman was a lonely child at school who did not seem to have any friends, and had behavior problems that often saw Mary (seen together) called into the school
Robin Westman was previously known as Robert before undergoing a legal name change name in 2020. Robin is pictured in a graduation photograph
Westman was previously known as Robert before undergoing a legal name change name in 2020.
According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman wanted to take on the name Robin to reflect that Westman identified ‘as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification’.
But in a handwritten manifesto shared by the shooter in a YouTube video before opening fire, Westman appeared to question the decision to transition.
Westman complained about being ‘tired of being trans’ and said she had been ‘brainwashed’.
‘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.’
Law enforcement raided the Minneapolis apartment complex where Westman was reportedly living. Neighbors at the complex say the killer appeared to have a female roommate
Westman’s twisted manifesto (pictured) has also been unearthed in the aftermath of the deadly shooting, offering some clues into what went through the alleged killer’s mind
Westman shared the manifesto (pictured) during a video posted via a since-deleted personal YouTube account that appeared to show the layout of the church where the shooting unfolded
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 to alter a birth certificate, the killer 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 do this, and it is unclear if doctors ever prescribed medication for Westman’s gender transition.
It is also unknown if Westman had ever taken any gender-affirming medications.
Police say Westman legally purchased the weapons used in the massacre, had no arrest history and acted alone.
Westman penned a suicide note, addressed to ‘my family and friends’, before carrying out the deadly shooting.
The killer claimed to be ‘corrupted by this world’ and had ‘learned to hate what life is’, the disturbing four-page note said.
Westman (pictured) had a ‘deranged fascination’ with mass killings and suggested in the manifesto that there was not one singular motive for the attack
‘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.
Authorities are also scouring YouTube videos, now removed from public view, and other online content as they work to identify a motive for the shoot out.
It also emerged on Thursday that the Westman family has had officers called to their home in Hastings, Minnesota at least twice before.
In January 2018, a police officer in Eagan, Minnesota was dispatched to the family’s home over a mental heal issue, according to a heavily-redacted police report obtained by NBC News.
The officer notes in the report that he ‘assisted Mendota Heights with a check welfare on a juvenile’.
The name of that juvenile and what exactly prompted police to be summoned to the three-bedroom home were redacted.
People visit a make-shift memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church on Friday as they pay their respects to the victims of Wednesday’s shooting
A mother embraces her child as they visit the make-shift memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church on Friday morning
Police were also dispatched to the Westman’s home two years prior when they responded to a report of a ‘criminal offense’.
But the report blacks out all of the details describing the event.
Still, police said authorities did not have any information indicating that the school shooter suffered from any type of mental illness that would preclude the individual from obtaining pistols or semiautomatic weapons under Minnesota’s red flag law.
‘There is nothing in the investigation so far that would lead us to believe that anything was missed,’ he said, noting that beyond a traffic ticket Westman did not have a police record.
