Minneapolis shooter filled with hate, police say

Robin Westman was ‘obsessed’ with killing kids, admired mass killers, authorities say.

- By STEVE KARNOWSKI, MARK VANCLEAVE AND CLAUDIA LAUER

A MAKESHIFT memorial has been created in front of Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

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 school and was “obsessed” with killing children, authorities said Thursday.

The shooter, identified as Robin Westman, 23, fired 16 rifle rounds through stained-glass windows while the children celebrated Mass during the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said.

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

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

Westman was “obsessed with the idea of killing children,” Thompson said.

‘The only group Westman did not hate was “mass murderers and shooters,” he said.

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.

'It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorize those innocent children.' BRIAN O'HARA, Minneapolis police chief

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

Two children, ages 8 and 10, died in the shooting. City officials on Thursday increased to 15 the number of wounded children — ages 6 to 15 — in addition to three parishioners in their 80s who were injured. Most were expected to survive.

One child was in critical condition Thursday while 11 other victims remained in hospitals.