(Minneapolis) The shooter who killed two students from a Catholic school and injured more than a dozen children sitting on the benches of a church in Minneapolis formerly frequented this same school and was a member of this church, said the city police chief.
The authorities examined carefully videos, writings and trips of the shooter, but remain uncertain about the reasons which pushed Robin Westman, 23, to open fire through stained glass as children celebrated mass during the first week of lessons at the Catholic School of the Annunciation.
“All that we have seen so far is a classic path to an active shooter,” said Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara, in NBC’s “Today” program on Thursday, adding that the police had not seen anything “specific who could have triggered the intensity of the hatred that occurred yesterday”.
Photo Tim Evans, Reuters
Hundreds of citizens gathered in the gymnasium of a minneapolis school during a vigil in honor of the victims of the shooting on Wednesday.
Investigators have recovered hundreds of evidence in the church and three residences, and ask for mandates to search the aircraft, the chief said. They found other writings of the suspect, but no additional firearm. Westman, armed with a rifle, a hunting rifle and a pistol, committed suicide, he said.
Two children, aged 8 and 10, died in the shooting. The municipal authorities brought the number of injured children (aged 6 to 15) on Thursday, to which are added three octogenarian parishioners also injured. Most should survive, said O’Hara.
A child was in critical condition on Thursday, while 11 other victims were still hospitalized.
Westman, whose mother worked for the parish before retiring in 2021, left behind videos and pages and pages of texts describing a litany of grievances. One of them said: “I know it’s bad, but I can’t help it. »»
On a YouTube channel, videos which, according to the police, were published by the Drawer show weapons and ammunition, and list the names of the mass killers. What seems to be a suicide letter addressed to the family contains a long -standing project admission to commit a shooting and evokes a deep depression.
A student protected by a friend injured by bullet
The Reverend Dennis Zehren, who was in the church with nearly 200 children, said that the responsible psalm, who spoke of light in the dark, was almost finished when he heard someone screaming “on the ground, on the ground, everyone! And that shots have sounded.
Weston Halsne, cm student2explained that he was lowered to join the benches, his head covered, protected by a friend who was on him. His friend was touched, he said.
“I was very afraid for him, but I think he’s going well now,” said the 10 -year -old child.
The authorities investigate the mobile of the shooting
FBI director Kash Patel, said on X that the attack was an act of inner terrorism motivated by a hateful ideology, citing the shooting statements against several religions and his calls for violence against President Donald Trump.
Thursday, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, dispatched police officers in the schools and churches of Minneapolis, saying that no child should go to school with the fear of losing a comrade or being victim of gunshots during prayer.
On a YouTube channel entitled Robin W, the person filming the video points two windows on what seems to be a drawing of the church, then stab it with a long knife.
Photo Abbie Parr, Associated Press
An improvised memorial was installed in front of the Annunciation Catholic school.
The videos, now deleted, also show weapons and ammunition, scribbled with the inscriptions “Kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God? “, As well as the names of the old mass killers.
There are also hundreds of pages written in Cyrillic, a writing of several centuries still used in Slavic countries. On one of them, Westman writes: “When will it end?” »»
The police chief said Westman had no busy criminal record and that she would have acted alone. Lily Kletter, a graduate of Annunciation, remembers that Westman had joined his class in college and that one day, she had hidden in the toilet to avoid going to mass.
“I remember that she had a crazy disgust for school, especially for Annunciation, which I have always found interesting, because their mother sat on parish council,” she said.
The federal authorities qualified Westman as Transgender, and the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, denounced hatred directed against “our transgender community”.
Westman’s identity was not clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, requesting Robert’s name change in Robin, claiming that the petitioner “identifies himself as a woman and hopes that her name reflects this identity”.
The police rescued the children who had hidden
The police chief said the police immediately intervened following the shooting of the shooting, entered the church, had given first aid and rescued some of the children.
Annunciation director Matt Deboer explained that teachers and children had reacted with heroism.
“The children were lowered. Adults protected children. The oldest protected the youngest, “he said.
Vincent Francoual said that his 11 -year -old daughter, Chloé, had survived by running on the stairs and hiding in a room with a table was leaning against the door. He added that she had trouble expressing this trauma clearly and that she thought that she was going to die.
On Monday was the day of the start of the school year at annuance, a centenary school located in a green residential and commercial district south of the city center of Minneapolis.
The mayor of the city called for a ban on assault weapons and large -capacity chargers across the state and federal government at a press conference at the Town Hall, surrounded by officials and defenders of the control of firearms.
“There is no reason why someone can take 30 shots before you even have to recharge,” said Frey. This is not your father’s hunting rifle. These are weapons designed to unravel the shields and kill people. »»
