Robin Westman, the Minneapolis Catholic school shooter, recently ended a relationship and was living with an older friend, according to one of several search warrants obtained by police following Wednesday’s deadly attack at Mass.
According to a search warrant, Westman most recently lived in an apartment in Richfield, but the killer’s father told police that the 23-year-old had recently ended a relationship and was staying with a friend in nearby St. Louis Park.
Police also raided Westman’s father’s Minneapolis home, seizing a tactical vest, two computer drives, and “miscellaneous documents,” according to the warrant.
Westman has been identified as the shooter who opened fire Wednesday morning, killing two children aged eight and ten and injuring 18 other worshipers, including more than a dozen students.
According to the warrant, police discovered Westman dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head while dressed in black “tactical” gear and carrying at least two long guns. The van used in the attack belonged to the killer’s father, James Westman.
The elder Westman informed police about the breakup.
Westman was born Robert Paul Westman and legally changed his name in 2019, according to court documents, to Robin M. Westman.
“Minor child [redacted] identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification,” according to a court form filled out by a mother named Mary Grace Westman, who shares the same name as a woman who police say worked at Annunciation Catholic Church.
According to authorities, the shooter attended the church’s attached Catholic school until the eighth grade.
According to WINK News, federal agents visited Mary Grace Westman’s Florida condominium as part of their investigation into the mother of the shooter who opened fire at a Minneapolis Catholic church Mass on Wednesday.
Deputies went to the same address the day before the shooting for what police described as an unrelated welfare check involving a juvenile.
“Contact was made with Mrs. Westman, who stated that the juvenile and the juvenile’s mother had previously lived there and were no longer residing with her,” the Collier County Sheriff’s Office informed Fox News Digital.
Officials stated that it was “unrelated to the shooter or shooter’s family.”
The FBI declined to comment on activity in Florida.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters Thursday that investigators have not yet spoken with Westman but are working to reach her. Authorities confirmed that she has not been cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
Mary Westman’s lawyer, Ryan Garry, told Fox News that she is “deeply distraught” and was not involved in the crime, but had hired counsel to handle law enforcement and media inquiries.
The killer also posted what police call “manifestos” online.
“[It] appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writing,” O’Hara explained to reporters during a briefing.
Following the shooting, YouTube removed disturbing videos posted by a person using the name Robin Westman, which showed handwritten notebook pages, weapons with messages painted on them, and commentary from whoever filmed them.
O’Hara also stated that all three firearms used in the attack were legally purchased by Westman, who had no prior criminal record.
According to NBC News, police in Eagan, Minnesota, were part of a multi-departmental response to a mental health incident at Westman’s former address in 2018. The report was heavily redacted.
Eagan police did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment on the incident. Mendota Heights police, who were also involved in the response, declined to comment on the incident or any previous encounters at the same address.
Minnesota does have a so-called red flag law, officially known as the state’s “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” program, which can prevent people from purchasing firearms for mental health reasons – but they must first be flagged by their parents, prosecutors, or high-ranking police officers, according to the state government.
