OAN Staff Blake Wolf and Sophia Flores
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
UPDATE 12:15 PM: According to multiple reports, the gunman has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that authorities identified Westman as the shooter.
Court documents revealed Westman had filed to change his name in 2020, from his birth name of “Robert” to “Robin.”
Westman opened fire through the stained glass windows at the Annunciation Catholic Church during morning Mass on Wednesday. According to the local news outlet KARE, Westman’s mother worked in some capacity with the school.
Video footage that the now-deceased suspect reportedly recorded prior to the shooting has also recently surfaced. Westman can be seen on camera showcasing his weapons and magazines sprawled out on his bed. The magazines featured messages like “kill Donald Trump,” “for the children,” and “where is your God?”
Additionally, other videos uploaded to Westman’s personal YouTube channel revealed that he had an obsession with mass shooters, specifically the Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.
10:08 AM – Tragedy struck at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, where a school shooting claimed the lives of at least two children and left more than a dozen others wounded.
Annunciation Catholic School, which serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade, had just reopened on Monday following the school’s summer break.
The young students typically gather for their weekly 8:15 a.m. Mass on Wednesdays. However, this moment of prayer and worship was shattered when the gunman, who hasn’t been identified yet by police, opened fire.
Nonetheless, police did inform the public that the gunman, reportedly “in his early 20s,” went on to take his own life on Wednesday after the rampage.
According to Minneapolis authorities, the gunman fatally shot two children and wounded 14 other children, along with three adults, in the attack. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara also told the press that the now-deceased victims were just 8 and 10-years-old.
Speaking at a press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called on the community to support the victims’ families, stating: “Every one of us needs to be wrapping our arms around these families, giving them every ounce that we can muster.”
“Children are dead,” he continued. “There are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy or the absolute pain of this situation.”
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Frey added. “These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.”
The gunman was armed with three weapons, a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol, according to Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who also noted that the shooter remained outside the church and opened fire through the windows as the children sat in the pews.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara stated, adding that two children are currently in critical condition.
“We believe it is one suspect, a sole shooter,” he continued, adding that the suspect “does not have an extensive known criminal history.”
Dr. Thomas Wyatt, the chairman of Emergency Medicine at the Hennepin County Medical Center, stated that the surviving victims, who are between the ages of six to 14, are currently being treated for their injuries.
Wyatt also stated that 4 of the 11 patients would be requiring surgery. Nine of the current patients are children, along with two adults.
“Up to this point in time, there have been no fatalities related to any of those patients that were brought to our organization,” Wyatt added.
President Donald Trump issued a Truth Social post after news of the shooting broke out, writing: “I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”
The traumatized students have since been reunited with their families, and parents could be seen embracing their children outside the school on Wednesday.
Chris Fream, a local parent whose kindergartner attends the school, told CNN he first learned of the shooting through a text from his wife, who also works there.
“We’re in lockdown, gunshots,” Fream’s wife wrote to him. “I’m with Fox. I can’t talk.”
“Everybody is just kind of in shock,” he stated, going on to state that he is still “trying to process.”
“We’ll see what happens this afternoon once I have time to breathe,” Fream added.
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