A series of videos attributed to Robin Westman, the shooter behind the Minneapolis Catholic school massacre, may reveal new details about his motives. At least two children were killed and 17 others wounded during morning prayers marking the start of the school year. Westman, a man in his 20s, shot himself dead at the scene.
One 20-minute video, uploaded to YouTube hours before the attack, shows the killer's hand flipping through a notebook filled with dense writing in English and Cyrillic script. At one point, he is seen stabbing what appears to be a sketch of a church. In another clip, he presents a farewell letter to his parents and apologizes to his family.
Other footage shows weapons and ammunition magazines inscribed with antisemitic and anti-Israel slogans, including "6 million wasn't enough," "F*** Israel," and "Israel must fall." On ammunition magazines recovered at the scene, investigators also found the messages "For the children" and "Kill Donald Trump."
Full video from YouTube showing two manifestos and guns posted by Robin Westman, the suspect in today's mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/sK4BsiMER4
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 27, 2025
The videos include sinister laughter, coughing and incoherent rambling, pointing to the killer's unstable mental state in the hours leading up to the massacre. According to the New York Post, police are still investigating his connection to the recordings. In other clips, he expressed admiration for mass shooters, including Adam Lanza, who murdered 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Westman was not previously known to police, according to US media reports. Around 8:30 a.m., he arrived at a church adjacent to the Catholic school armed with two rifles and a handgun. Witnesses said he tried to barricade the church doors with wooden planks to trap worshippers inside, then opened fire through the stained-glass windows while dozens of children prayed.
Weston Halssen, a fifth-grader at the school, told CNN that his friend was wounded while protecting him. "They shot through the stained-glass windows, I think, and it was really scary," he said. "When the first shot went off I asked myself, 'What was that?' Then I heard it again and just ran under the bench and covered my head. My friend Victor saved me because he lay on top of me, but he got hit."
Halssen said they hid under the pews for five to 10 minutes before being evacuated to the gymnasium, where staff locked the doors. His friend was taken to the hospital. "I was so scared for him, but I think he's okay now," he said.
Local media reported that of the 11 victims hospitalized, nine were children between the ages of 6 and 14. Two remain in critical condition. Among the dead were an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old.
The shooting took place Wednesday morning at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the first week of classes.
