Police say Minneapolis church shooter was filled with hatred and admired mass killers

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The shooter who killed two Catholic school students and wounded more than a dozen youngsters sitting in the pews of a Minneapolis church once attended the same school and was “obsessed” with the idea of killing children, authorities said Thursday.

The shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, fired 116 rifle rounds through stained-glass windows while the children celebrated Mass during the first week of classes at the Annunciation Catholic School, said Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara.

“It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorize those innocent children,” O’Hara said.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said videos and writings the shooter left behind show that the shooter "expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable.”

The only group Westman did not hate was “mass murderers,” Thompson said. “In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us.”

Investigators recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences, the police chief said. They found more writings from the suspect, but no additional firearms or a clear motive for the attack on the church the shooter once attended. Westman had a “deranged fascination” with mass killings, O'Hara said.

“No evidence will ever be able to make sense of such an unthinkable tragedy,” he said.

Surveillance video captured the attack and showed the shooter never entered the church and could not see the children while firing through windows lined up with the pews, the police chief said.

Family members described one of the victims, 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel, as a boy who loved his family, fishing, cooking, and any sport he was allowed to play.

“We will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming,” his father, Jesse, said while tearfully reading a statement outside the church on Thursday.

The parents of the other victim, 10-year-old Harper Moyski, said in a statement that she was a bright and joyful child.

“Our hearts are broken not only as parents, but also for Harper’s sister, who adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss," said Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin. “As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.”

They said they hope her memory helps drive leaders “to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country.”

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office said they both died of gunshot wounds.

City officials on Thursday increased to 15 the number of injured children, who are ages 6 to 15. Three parishioners in their 80s also were injured. Only one person — a child — was in critical condition.

Westman, whose mother worked for the parish before retiring in 2021, left behind several videos and page upon page of writings describing a litany of grievances. One read: “I know this is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself.”

O'Hara said Westman was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, and died by suicide.

On a YouTube channel, videos that police say may have been posted by the shooter show weapons and ammunition, and list the names of mass shooters. What appears to be a suicide note to family contains a confession of long-held plans to carry out a shooting and talk of being deeply depressed.

Rev. Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said the responsorial psalm — which spoke of light in the darkness — had almost ended when he heard someone yell, “Down down, everybody down,” and gunshots rang out.

Fifth-grader Weston Halsne said he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.

“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” the 10-year-old said.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the attack was an act of domestic terrorism motivated by hate-filled ideology, citing the shooter’s statements against multiple religions and calls for violence against President Donald Trump.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday sent state law enforcement officers to schools and churches in Minneapolis, saying no child should go to school worried about losing a classmate or gunshots erupting during prayer.

On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the person filming the video points to two windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, then stabs it with a long knife.

The now-deleted videos also show weapons and ammunition, scrawled with “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” along with the names of past mass shooters.

There also were hundreds of pages written in Cyrillic, a centuries-old script still used in Slavic countries. In one, Westman wrote, “When will it end?”

Lily Kletter, who graduated from Annunciation, recalled that Westman joined her class at some point in middle school and once hid in the bathroom to avoid going to Mass.

“I remember they had a crazy distaste for school, especially Annunciation, which I always thought was pretty interesting because their mom was on the parish board,” she said.

Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decried hatred being directed at “our transgender community.” Westman’s gender identity wasn’t clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”

There were no past arrests or anything in the shooter's background that would have prevented Westman from being able to legally purchase a firearm, investigators said Thursday.

In response to a request for any records of police contact with the shooter in the last decade, the Eagan Police Department sent two documents, both heavily redacted. The first from 2018 is listed as a mental health call and welfare check for a child with parents Mary Grace Westman and James Westman. The case was listed as closed and the narrative was redacted after the officer wrote she responded to the woman's address.

A second report from 2016 involving a criminal complaint was entirely redacted.

The police chief said the first officer ran into the church four minutes after the initial 911 call and that more officers rendered first aid and rescued some of the children.

Annunciation's principal Matt DeBoer said teachers and children alike responded heroically.

“Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children,” he said.

Vincent Francoual said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived by running downstairs and hiding in a room with a table pushed against the door. He said she is struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatizing scene and that she thought she was going to die.

Tess Rada said her 8-year-old daughter also hasn’t said much about the shooting so she too doesn’t know exactly what she saw. Loud noises and sirens have bothered her since the attack, Rada said.

One of the children killed was her daughter's friend.

“It’s kind of impossible,” Rada said “to wrap your head around how to tell an 8-year-old that her friend has been killed.”

This story has been corrected to reflect that the police department’s name is spelled Eagan, not Eagen.

Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hallie Golden in Seattle and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

The flags circling the Washington Monument fly at half-staff in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, following the shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A wreath of flowers is left on behalf of families of victims of the Robb Elementary School school shootings in Uvalde, Texas at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Flowers are placed near the Annunciation Catholic School after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Amy Dols, and her children, Archie and Paloma place flowers at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Members of a Lutheran church charities comfort dog ministry sit and stand in front of the Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Kristen Neville, left, and Michael Burt cry and embrace each other at the doors of the Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Flowers and notes are placed at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Kristen Neville and Michael Burt embrace each other at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Tim and Katharine Barr kneel and pray at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Ruth, right, and Sage place flowers at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Crosses, flowers and other mementos were places by the sign at Annunciation Cathic Church at a memorial after Wednesday's shooting at the school, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church's school in response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

A parent hugs her son during an active shooter situation at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

A person walks out of the Annunciation Church's school as police respond to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

People gather at a vigil at Lynnhurst Park after a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

People gather at a vigil at Lynnhurst Park after a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Federal immigration agents deployed to Minneapolis have used aggressive crowd-control tactics that have become a dominant concern in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of a woman in her car last week.

They have pointed rifles at demonstrators and deployed chemical irritants early in confrontations. They have broken vehicle windows and pulled occupants from cars. They have scuffled with protesters and shoved them to the ground.

The government says the actions are necessary to protect officers from violent attacks. The encounters in turn have riled up protesters even more, especially as videos of the incidents are shared widely on social media.

What is unfolding in Minneapolis reflects a broader shift in how the federal government is asserting its authority during protests, relying on immigration agents and investigators to perform crowd-management roles traditionally handled by local police who often have more training in public order tactics and de-escalating large crowds.

Experts warn the approach runs counter to de-escalation standards and risks turning volatile demonstrations into deadly encounters.

The confrontations come amid a major immigration enforcement surge ordered by the Trump administration in early December, which sent more than 2,000 officers from across the Department of Homeland Security into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Many of the officers involved are typically tasked with arrests, deportations and criminal investigations, not managing volatile public demonstrations.

Tensions escalated after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman killed by an immigration agent last week, an incident federal officials have defended as self-defense after they say Good weaponized her vehicle.

The killing has intensified protests and scrutiny of the federal response.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota asked a federal judge to intervene, filing a lawsuit on behalf of six residents seeking an emergency injunction to limit how federal agents operate during protests, including restrictions on the use of chemical agents, the pointing of firearms at non-threatening individuals and interference with lawful video recording.

“There’s so much about what’s happening now that is not a traditional approach to immigration apprehensions,” said former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldaña.

Saldaña, who left the post at the beginning of 2017 as President Donald Trump's first term began, said she can't speak to how the agency currently trains its officers. When she was director, she said officers received training on how to interact with people who might be observing an apprehension or filming officers, but agents rarely had to deal with crowds or protests.

“This is different. You would hope that the agency would be responsive given the evolution of what’s happening — brought on, mind you, by the aggressive approach that has been taken coming from the top,” she said.

Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said the majority of crowd-management or protest training in policing happens at the local level — usually at larger police departments that have public order units.

“It’s highly unlikely that your typical ICE agent has a great deal of experience with public order tactics or control,” Adams said.

DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that ICE officer candidates receive extensive training over eight weeks in courses that include conflict management and de-escalation. She said many of the candidates are military veterans and about 85% have previous law enforcement experience.

“All ICE candidates are subject to months of rigorous training and selection at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where they are trained in everything from de-escalation tactics to firearms to driving training. Homeland Security Investigations candidates receive more than 100 days of specialized training," she said.

Ed Maguire, a criminology professor at Arizona State University, has written extensively about crowd-management and protest- related law enforcement training. He said while he hasn't seen the current training curriculum for ICE officers, he has reviewed recent training materials for federal officers and called it “horrifying.”

Maguire said what he's seeing in Minneapolis feels like a perfect storm for bad consequences.

“You can't even say this doesn't meet best practices. That's too high a bar. These don't seem to meet generally accepted practices,” he said.

“We’re seeing routinely substandard law enforcement practices that would just never be accepted at the local level,” he added. “Then there seems to be just an absence of standard accountability practices.”

Adams noted that police department practices have "evolved to understand that the sort of 1950s and 1960s instinct to meet every protest with force, has blowback effects that actually make the disorder worse.”

He said police departments now try to open communication with organizers, set boundaries and sometimes even show deference within reason. There's an understanding that inside of a crowd, using unnecessary force can have a domino effect that might cause escalation from protesters and from officers.

Despite training for officers responding to civil unrest dramatically shifting over the last four decades, there is no nationwide standard of best practices. For example, some departments bar officers from spraying pepper spray directly into the face of people exercising Constitutional speech. Others bar the use of tear gas or other chemical agents in residential neighborhoods.

Regardless of the specifics, experts recommend that departments have written policies they review regularly.

“Organizations and agencies aren’t always familiar with what their own policies are,” said Humberto Cardounel, senior director of training and technical assistance at the National Policing Institute.

“They go through it once in basic training then expect (officers) to know how to comport themselves two years later, five years later," he said. "We encourage them to understand and know their training, but also to simulate their training.”

Adams said part of the reason local officers are the best option for performing public order tasks is they have a compact with the community.

“I think at the heart of this is the challenge of calling what ICE is doing even policing,” he said.

"Police agencies have a relationship with their community that extends before and after any incidents. Officers know we will be here no matter what happens, and the community knows regardless of what happens today, these officers will be here tomorrow.”

Saldaña noted that both sides have increased their aggression.

“You cannot put yourself in front of an armed officer, you cannot put your hands on them certainly. That is impeding law enforcement actions,” she said.

“At this point, I’m getting concerned on both sides — the aggression from law enforcement and the increasingly aggressive behavior from protesters.”

Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People cover tear gas deployed by federal immigration officers outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A man is pushed to the ground as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)