It was a Wednesday morning like any other in South Minneapolis. Until it wasn't. On August 27, 2025, the quiet of the Windom neighborhood was shattered. Children were gathered for a back-to-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church. Then, the gunfire started.
People always want to know the "why" and the "who" behind these things. It's human nature to look for a name to attach to the tragedy. In this case, the minneapolis school shooter name is Robin Westman. Westman was 23 years old. He didn't come from some far-off place; he was a former student of that very school. He lived less than a mile away.
Who Was Robin Westman?
Honestly, the details that came out after the shooting are a weird mix of tragic and confusing. Westman was born Robert Paul Westman in 2002. Later on, around 2019, there was a legal name change to Robin. Court documents show that, at the time, the shooter identified as female.
But it’s not that simple.
Later writings found by investigators suggest a massive amount of internal conflict. There was disillusionment. Anger. In diary entries, Westman talked about feeling like life was over because of a vaping habit, even claiming to have self-inflicted cancer.
- Age: 23 at the time of the event.
- Education: Graduated 8th grade from Annunciation in 2017.
- Employment: Had recently stopped working at a cannabis dispensary in Eagan.
The guy was a bit of a ghost in the years leading up to the attack. He had no major criminal record. No big "red flags" that the system usually catches, though his former teachers mentioned later that they’d seen signs of self-harm years prior. He legally bought the guns—a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol—just weeks before he used them.
The Morning at Annunciation Catholic School
The attack was calculated. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment breakdown. Westman didn't even go inside at first. He stood outside the church and fired through the stained-glass windows. Think about that for a second. The glass was shattering while 8 and 10-year-olds were sitting in the pews.
Two kids died that day: Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski.
Thirty others were hurt. Most of them were kids. The chaos lasted only minutes before Westman turned the gun on himself in the back of the church. When the police arrived, it was already a recovery mission. They found his car nearby, filled with more evidence of how much he’d planned this.
🔗 Read more: Marco Rubio Zelensky Meeting: What Really Happened Behind Closed Doors
The Manifesto and YouTube Videos
Hours before the first shot was fired, Westman had scheduled videos to go live on YouTube. They were basically a digital suicide note. The "manifesto" was a rambling, 1,000-word mess addressed to his family. It was full of suicidal thoughts and weirdly specific violent ideas.
On the gun magazines, he’d scribbled things like "Where is your God?" and "For the Children." There was even stuff written in Cyrillic. The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) pointed out antisemitic undertones in his writings. It wasn't one single ideology. It was a "mishmash" of hate and personal misery.
Sorting Through the Motive
The FBI and local Minneapolis police have been digging through this for months. Was it terrorism? Was it a hate crime? They’ve labeled it as both at various points.
Some people point to the gender identity aspect. Others point to the fact that his mother used to work at the school as a secretary. Maybe it was a "grievance" against the church itself. Truth is, there might not be one single answer. Westman’s own writings mentioned a "final act" he’d been thinking about for years. He seemed obsessed with other mass shooters, almost like he was studying them.
It’s a heavy reality for the Twin Cities. You’ve got a community trying to heal while trying to understand how someone who grew up in their pews could do something so horrific.
What Happens Now?
If you're looking for ways to actually do something rather than just reading about the tragedy, there are a few concrete steps being taken in Minnesota right now:
- Support the Victims: The "FletcherFest" event was recently held to honor the legacy of the victims. Keeping their names—Fletcher and Harper—louder than the shooter's name is what the community is focused on.
- Mental Health Advocacy: The city of Minneapolis has set up specific resources for parents to talk to their kids about school violence.
- Legislative Changes: There is a renewed push in the Minnesota legislature regarding "Red Flag" laws and how quickly someone can buy multiple firearms after a period of unemployment or reported mental distress.
Stay informed by following local updates from the Minneapolis Police Department and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. They are the ones handling the ongoing warrants and digital forensics that might eventually explain the "why" behind Robin Westman's actions.