Minneapolis Catholic school attack: police chief said 'there is no indication of other suspects directly involved' and stated that the shooter had no criminal record

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara provided details in a press conference on the tragic event at Annunciation Church, adjacent to the Annunciation Catholic School, that rocked the Minneapolis community.

O'Hara noted that the shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, approached the outside of the building, dressed in black, and opened fire with a rifle through the church windows, aiming directly at children sitting in the pews. Westman was armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol, all purchased recently and legally. In that vein, the police chief noted, “There is no indication of other suspects directly involved in carrying out this attack,” and explained that the shooter, who had no criminal record, fired dozens of rounds in a few minutes before killing himself with a self-inflicted wound.

On the shooter's motive and manifesto

O'Hara revealed that Westman posted a "manifesto" scheduled to go up on YouTube, which included disturbing writings and appeared to show the shooter at the scene. “We’re also aware of a manifesto that the shooter had time to release on YouTube,” the police chief said. The content was removed with the help of the FBI and is now under active review by investigators to develop a possible motive. 

Along those lines, the police chief noted that "we don't have motive at this time," O'Hara added when asked if it is being investigated as a hate crime against Catholics.

However, the FBI director, Kash Patel, announced that the agency is investigating the shooting as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crimes targeting Catholics.”

Although authorities cannot yet confirm a direct connection between Westman and the church, it is being closely investigated. Westman reportedly graduated from Annunciation Elementary School in 2017, and his mother worked there from 2016 to 2021. 

For his part, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described the event as an encounter with "evil, horror and death" rather than learning and joy. "There shouldn’t be words for these types of incidents, because they should not happen, and there’s no words that are going to ease the pain of the families today,” Walz said during the news conference.

For his part, Matthew DeBoer, principal of Annunciation School, remembered the victims in an emotional message: “We lost two angels today. Please continue to pray for those still receiving care” adding, "I love you. You’re so brave, and I’m so sorry this happened to us today.”

Similarly, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, emphasized communal hope: “Brothers and sisters, we have to be men and women of hope.” Hebda mentioned that he has received prayer messages from across the country and noted how families are coming together to support each other.

Heroic actions

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised the teaching staff for their efforts, which he called "heroic," and noted, "Throughout the morning, we have seen this extraordinary Minneapolis family step up in thousands of different ways." 

“I want to give a special thank you, and we are so grateful to all of the faculty and the teachers at Annunciation,” he said. “The way that they acted during severe threat and danger was nothing short of heroic. This is a tragic and horrible event that would never—should never—occur, and it would have been all the more tragic and horrible had they not stepped in, at times perhaps putting themselves in danger to protect others. As horrible as this has been, it could have been far worse."

DeBoer also noted the "heroic actions" of the teachers: "Within seconds of this situation starting, our teachers became heroes. The children ducked, the adults protected the children, the older children protected the younger children, and, as we heard earlier, it could have been much worse without their heroic action. This was a nightmare, but we call our personnel the dream team."

The "toughest" shooting

O'Hara mentioned that police officers are traumatized by what they saw, similar to the children and staff. "The dozens of officers that responded to the scene, many of them are deeply traumatized by what they saw, as are obviously all of the children," he said. He further noted that this shooting is the fourth in Minneapolis in the past 24 hours, though they are unrelated, and O'Hara described it as "the most difficult."

The Trump administration ordered flags to fly at half-staff

President Donald Trump ordered flags to fly at half-staff through Sunday in honor of the victims. The FBI and other federal agencies, including the ATF, are assisting in the investigation.