Items are left at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday’s school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
TLDR: Robin Westman, the 23-year-old who killed two children and injured 17 others at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, left behind years of writings showing violent obsessions, fantasies about school shootings, and racist and antisemitic thoughts. His journal reveals both a long descent into darkness and repeated cries for help—ending with chilling plans to target his former school.“This is not a church or religion attack, that is not the message. The message is there is no message.” Those were the words Robin Westman scrawled in Cyrillic script before storming Annunciation Catholic School during Mass on August 27, 2025. Hours later, Westman was dead by suicide, leaving behind a city in grief, a nation reeling, and a handwritten chronicle of obsession and despair.
Driving the news
- The Journal: CNN reviewed dozens of pages of Westman’s handwritten notes, much of it in Cyrillic to avoid detection. The entries span years and reveal a fixation with mass shootings dating back to middle school.
- Detailed Planning: In the weeks before the attack, Westman mapped the church’s interior, tested doors, and rehearsed with weapons. The final entries included diagrams of the sanctuary stabbed with a knife on camera
- Dual Voices: The writings veer between sadistic fantasies (“every school I went to, I had some fantasy of shooting it up”) and desperate pleas for help (“FIND ME I AM BEGGING FOR HELP, I AM SCREAMING FOR HELP”).
- Weaponry: Police recovered a rifle, shotgun, and handgun. One video showed racist and antisemitic slogans painted on the weapons.
- The Attack: Westman fired through stained-glass windows into a packed Mass, killing two children and wounding 17 others before turning the gun on himself.
Why it matters
The Minneapolis massacre highlights two grim truths of America’s gun crisis:
- Missed Signals: Westman’s violent thoughts were known since adolescence—yet no intervention or mental health support followed.
- Easy Access: Despite years of troubling behaviour, Westman had no criminal record or disqualifying mental health history, and legally obtained firearms.
The big picture
- School Obsession: The fantasy began in seventh grade when Westman was suspended for discussing school shootings. By his own admission, he carried the thought to every school and job afterward.
- Identity Struggles: Court records show Westman legally changed his name in 2020 after identifying as female. But journal entries reveal deep self-hatred and isolation.
- Hatred & Emulation: Westman idolised killers like Adam Lanza of Sandy Hook, while simultaneously writing racist, antisemitic, and nihilistic tirades.
- No Clear Cause: Ultimately, the writings don’t present a political manifesto. Instead, they portray a young adult consumed by despair, rage, and violent fantasy—culminating in a catastrophic act of destruction.
FAQs
Was the attack religiously motivated?No. Despite targeting a Catholic church, Westman wrote explicitly that it was not about religion.Did family or classmates notice signs?Some did. A classmate remembered praise for Hitler in middle school. A stepmother said she felt “dark energy.” But no systemic intervention followed.Could the shooting have been prevented?The journal suggests Westman knew he was dangerous and even wrote that gun laws “should make it harder for people like me.” Authorities say no legal red flags stopped his firearm purchases.What happens next?The investigation continues into how Westman obtained weapons, whether others knew of the plan, and what security measures schools must adopt in response.
