On August 27, a shooting took place during a morning Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. Police said two children, aged eight and ten, were killed and 17 people were injured. The wounded included 14 children between 6 and 15 years old and three parishioners around 80 years of age.
Investigators said the gunfire was opened by 23-year-old Robin Westman, a former student of the school. She killed herself after the attack. Police said she had a rifle, a shotgun and a handgun, all of which had been purchased legally.
“The shooter approached the building from the side and began firing a rifle through the church windows toward children seated in the pews during Mass,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said.
The FBI is treating the case as an act of domestic terrorism and a possible hate crime targeting Catholics. US President Donald Trump ordered flags across the country to be flown at half-staff until August 31.
Westman’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, had worked at the same school for five years. At age 17, Robin filed to change the name Robert to Robin; the court filing said she identified as a woman. After the shooting, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene linked the attack to the issue of transgender transition, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged the public not to use the case to incite hatred against any community.
The shooter’s motive has not been officially established. Before the attack, a YouTube channel that investigators believe may have been linked to Westman posted videos showing a manifesto, weapons and inscriptions, including some in Cyrillic. The channel was removed after FBI involvement, but clips spread on social media. The published materials also referred to health problems, suicidal thoughts and admiration for mass killers; US media, citing sources, reported that police are verifying Westman’s connection to those posts.