Yet another shooting incident sent shockwaves throughout the United States. This time, a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, became the centre of a spine-chilling tragedy that killed two children and injured 17 other people on Wednesday (US time). Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara has since identified the suspected shooter as Robin Westman, who according to the Department of Homeland Security may have been a transgender individual.

The 23-year-old suspected shooter being linked to the unspeakable incident at Annunciation Catholic Church is believed to have died from a self-inflicted wound after opening fire at the scene during a morning Mass. Westman was found dead in the back of the church’s parking lot that same day.

Suspect Robin Westman: Minnesota Catholic school shooter’s ‘manifesto’

Authorities are now looking into what might have been the suspect’s manifesto, detailing their thought process and a lot more. The said piece of evidence was scheduled to be released on YouTube ahead of the Catholic school shooting. as per O’Hara. While at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the police chief affirmed that authorities were looking into the given material to “try and develop a motive from that.”

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A series of videos which had originally emerged on YouTube were signed off by a user called “Robin W.” They have since been taken down from the platform. Two such videos mentioned Robin Westman’s full name.

One of these clips, as shared by O’Hara, seemingly showed the alleged Minnesota shooter at the scene, revealing alarming writings. According to the New York Post’s report, a footage, about 20-minutes-long, showed a hand turning the “pages of a red notebook, which is laid out on top of what appears to be schematic gun diagrams.” All visible pages therein are filled with “inscrutable handwritten scrawl, an occasional plume of smoke is seen from the bottom of the screen as the person turning the pages coughs and occasionally maniacally giggles.”

More such videos suggested that Westman was obsessed with school shootings, mass shooters, guns and bullets. Numerous guns linked to Westman were found with several slurs, political messages and mass killers’ names etched on them.

Alarming messages scrawled on weapons tied to Robin Westman

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also took to her X profile to share the “deranged monster” who targeted “young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year” had scrawled some deeply concerning words like ‘For the Children’ and ‘Where is your God?,’ in addition to ‘Kill Donald Trump’ and ‘Nuke India’ being scribbled on a rifle magazine.

In addition to the aforementioned warnings, these weapons also had religious and racial slurs on them. Furthermore, words like “psycho killer” and “suck on this!” were seen on the guns along with antisemitic messages. One such threatening readings was: “6 million wasn’t enough.”

Names of six mass shooters were also inscribed on the arms. Adam Lanza, who opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, was one of these notorious criminals, whom the suspect claimed too have had a “deep fascination” for. Yet another killer’s name found on the one of the weapons was that of Robert Bowers. He was convicted of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.

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Inside Robin Westman’s notebook

His red-coloured possession also featured him openly embracing racist and antisemitic views. Westman allegedly then also goes on to say he can’t put his finger on a “specific purpose” serving as his motivation for the tragedy. “It definitely wouldn’t be for racism or white supremacy,” the notebook says. “I don’t want to do it to spread a message. I do it to please myself. I do it because I am sick.”

The same piece of belonging tied to Westman even included a diagram of a church’s interior, which seemingly matches the Annunciation Church’s layout. The notebook consisting of incoherent rants was partially written in English, including English words being written in Cyrillic script, along with some Russian readings.

Beyond all the other troubling mentions, some entries laid down the suspect’s alleged self-hating thoughts and potentially suicidal expressions. One page shows “I’m so sorry” in large letters. Meanwhile, the person recording the video and looking at the page at the time quietly said, “I love my family,” adding “I don’t know what else to say,” sometime later into the video.

According to a yearbook photo obtained by CNN, “Robert Westman” appears to have graduated from Annunciation’s grade school in 2017. The report further indicated that the suspect’s mother filed to get their name legally changed from Robert Paul Westman to Robin M Westman in 2019. Court documents detailed that a judge approving the petition in January 2020 wrote the suspect “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”

Although some traffic citations were associated with Westman in 2021, there are no known records citing any criminal history.

This is an ongoing investigation.