Image Source: Agencies

Aug 28, 2025: Two children were killed and 17 others injured when a gunman opened fire during a church service at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

The shooter, who was identified as Robin Westman, 23, later passed away in the parking lot from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. After identifying as a woman in 2020, Westman legally changed her name to Robert and used a legally purchased rifle, shotgun, and pistol. The weapons were written on with ominous phrases like "Kill Donald Trump" and "Nuke India," according to authorities. Weapons,
ammunition, and extremist writings were featured in videos on a Westman-linked YouTube channel that has since been removed.

According to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, who declined to provide a possible motive for the attack, the lone suspect, Robin Westman, 23, "took own life" at the rear of the church. The suspect's video message revealed that Westman struggled with depression and was fascinated by previous mass shooters. The attack was being investigated as an "act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics," according to FBI Director Kash Patel. Two victims, aged 8 and 10, were slain where they sat as the gunfire turned the morning Mass into pandemonium.

According to officials, it caused worshipers to hide behind pews while older children rushed to protect younger ones. O'Hara stated that outside the doors, wooden planks obstructed at least two of the church exits. At Annunciation Catholic School, the violence occurred at the beginning of an annual all-school Mass on the first Wednesday of the academic year. O'Hara stated that in addition to the two children who were killed, gunfire struck 17 other individuals, 14 of whom were students ranging in age from 6 to 18 and three parishioners in their 80s.

The chief said that it was expected that everyone who was hurt would get better. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that a school yearbook from 2017 revealed that Westman, who at the time went by the name Robert, had been a student there.