Shooter at Annunciation Catholic School self-identified as ‘trans’

It has emerged that the 23-year-old shooter who yesterday killed 2 children and injured 17 people at Annunciation Catholic School was a male who self-identified as a "trans woman".

The shooter at the school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been named as Robin Westman. His birth name was Robert. Westman previously applied as a teenager in Dakota County to change his birth name from Robert to Robin, according to court documents obtained by local media, with the request granted in January 2020.

The deed poll request, which states the then-teen "identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification", was validated by Westman's parents, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Westman reportedly grew up in Richfield, Minnesota, with his mother having worked at Annunciation Catholic School.

The revelations have led to questions around gender dysphoria and mental health, and whether that should be getting as much, if not more, attention as the issue of gun violence and accessibility to fire arms in the US, as the country tries to process and understand another horrific mass shooting occuring at a school.

Westman carried out the attack with a rifle – confirmed as a semi-automatic weapon – as well as a shotgun and a pistol.

“How many more shootings before our society recognises gender dysphoria as a form of mental illness?” commented Fr Ronald Vierling, a Catholic priest, who previously served as rector of the University of Notre Dame’s Morrissey Manor, on social media platform X.

“We should be focused upon providing psychological and spiritual remedies geared toward holistic healing of such persons over physical alteration and encouragement of play acting.

A now-deleted YouTube account believed to belong to Westman featured what is being reported as a type of "manifesto" video that aired hours before the shooting. In the video can be seen a drawing of a church and a person repeatedly stabbing the paper on which it was drawn. In the same drawing of the church are outlines of multiple box shapes laid out in a neat pattern, which could represent coffins.

Other video clips posted to the YouTube account show gun parts, a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and various gun magazines with messages scrawled on them.

One message on a gun magazine reads: “For the children"; another reads: "Where is your God?"

One video clip shows what appears to be a target, typically used on a gun range, with an image of the head of a crucified Christ plastered on the head area of the target.

The person filming the video at one point sings the word “tomorrow” while also saying: “I’m sorry to my family … that’s the only people I’m sorry to.

“I regret everything. I didn’t ask for life. You didn’t ask for death.”

The Daily Mail reports [warning: the article features clips from the YouTube account which contain images that some readers may find deeply upsetting and disturbing] that in a journal that appears in the video clips the following is written: "I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.

"I really like my outfit. I look pretty, smart and modest. I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting."

The Mail adds that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has denounced transphobia after the revelations about Westman's identity.

"I have heard about a whole lot of hate that is being directed at our trans community," he said.

"Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainise our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone."

Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, has described the attack as a "deliberate act of violence against children and worshippers".

Westman is reported to have died from self-inflicted wounds. The two children killed were aged eight and 10.

Of the 17 injured, 14 were children, with up to seven children aged between six and 14 years old brought to hospital in critical condition and four having needed surgery. The three other individuals injured are reported to be adult worshippers in their 80s.

Based on the latest reports, as of the morning of 28 August, all of the injured are expected to survive, according to the Minneapolis police chief.

RELATED: Shooting at Catholic school during Mass leaves at least 3 dead and 17 injured‍

‍Photo: People attend a vigil at Lynnhurst Park to mourn the dead and pray for the wounded after a gunman opened fire on students at Annunciation Catholic School on  in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 27 August 2025. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.)

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