Minneapolis school shooter ‘had just gone through break up’ before killing two kids in church attack

The Minneapolis school shooter had only recently broken up with a romantic partner before killing two children in a horrific attack, it has been revealed. 

Robin Westman, who identified as a transgender woman, had been involved with a ‘significant’ partner, but the relationship recently ended, the killer’s father told police.

The gender of Westman’s former ‘romantic partner’ is unclear. 

The killer had been staying with a friend in the aftermath of the break-up, according to a search warrant obtained by FOX 9. 

Westman’s neighbors at the Lynwood Commons Apartments complex, about a 10-minute drive from the Annunciation Catholic Church, said the killer appeared to have a female roommate.

It is unclear if the shooter was living at the complex with the friend or the former partner.

Westman fired 116 rifle rounds through the stained-glass windows of the Annunciation Catholic Church while school children were celebrating Mass Wednesday morning. 

The mass shooting killed two students, aged eight and 10, and left 18 other victims injured.

Robin Westman (pictured) recently ‘broke up with a significant and/or romantic partner’, the killer’s father told police

Memorials outside Annunciation Catholic Church where Westman shot and killed two children and injured 18 other people

The shooter was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol and used all three weapons in the attack.

Westman – dressed in black ‘tactical’ gear – was found dead behind the church from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

Investigators recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and searched three homes associated with the 23-year-old shooter. 

Inside Westman’s father’s home, police seized a Condor tactical vest with ‘various attachments not related to law enforcement/security,’ the search warrant states. 

Officers also recovered two external media storage devices and a collection of documents. 

In YouTube videos posted online, timed to go live with the massacre, Westman shared a string of hate-filled writings and detailed plans for the attack – but no clear motive.

Westman had a ‘deranged fascination’ with mass killings and school shooters, and suggested in the manifesto that there was not one singular motive for the attack.

Before Westman was unmasked as the shooter, neighbors said they never noticed any suspicious behavior and said the killer appeared to live a normal life.

Teachers said Westman was a lonely child at school who did not seem to have any friends, and had behavior problems that often saw Mary (seen together) called into the school 

Robin Westman was previously known as Robert before undergoing a legal name change name in 2020. Robin is pictured in a graduation photograph

One neighbor claimed Westman ‘didn’t stand out’ and appeared to be a ‘normal young person’, Fox News reported.

‘[Westman] looked like any other 20-something-year-old. Came into the building, ordered fast food, went to work, came home. [Westman] had friends. Nothing stood out,’ the resident said.

Another neighbor said that if Westman had done ‘anything beyond sketchy’, someone in the complex would have ‘called long before now’.

Westman – who attended the school targeted in the attack – was previously known as Robert before undergoing a legal name change name in 2020. 

According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman wanted to be known as Robin to reflect that Westman identified ‘as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification’.

But in a handwritten manifesto shared by the shooter in a YouTube video before opening fire, Westman appeared to question the decision to transition.

Westman complained about being ‘tired of being trans’ and ‘brainwashed’.

‘I only keep [the long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,’ the killer wrote in a scrawled cryptic message. 

Law enforcement raided the Minneapolis apartment complex where Westman was reportedly living. Neighbors at the complex say the killer appeared to have a female roommate

Westman’s twisted manifesto (pictured) has also been unearthed in the aftermath of the deadly shooting, offering some clues into what went through the alleged killer’s mind 

Westman shared the manifesto (pictured) during a video posted via a since-deleted personal YouTube account that appeared to show the layout of the church where the shooting unfolded

‘I can’t cut my hair now as it would be an embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported. 

‘It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.’ 

Westman also wrote about struggling with how to identify, adding: ‘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.’ 

Under Minnesota law, changing legal name is far more straightforward than if an individual wishes to change their official birth certificate. 

Westman only had to petition for the name change, but to alter a birth certificate, the killer would need a doctor’s letter showing ‘medical certification of appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition’. 

It is not known if the killer ever tried to do this, and it is unclear if doctors ever prescribed medication for Westman’s gender transition.

It is also unknown if Westman had ever taken any gender-affirming medications.

Police said Westman legally purchased the weapons used in the massacre, had no arrest history and acted alone.

Westman penned a suicide note, addressed to ‘my family and friends‘, before carrying out the deadly shooting.

The disturbing four-page note said the killer claimed to be ‘corrupted by this world’ and had ‘learned to hate what life is”.

Westman (pictured) had a ‘deranged fascination’ with mass killings and suggested in the manifesto that there was not one singular motive for the attack

‘I have wanted this for so long. I am not well. I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away,’ Westman wrote.

‘I know this is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years. Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world.’

Westman concluded by asking for ‘prayers’ for the shooting victims and their loved ones.

As police continue to search for a motive, it has emerged that police were called to the Westman home in Hastings, Minnesota, at least twice before. 

In January 2018, a police officer in Eagan, Minnesota, was dispatched to the family’s home over a mental heal issue, according to a heavily-redacted police report obtained by NBC News. 

The officer notes in the report that he ‘assisted Mendota Heights with a check welfare on a juvenile’.

The name of that juvenile and what exactly prompted police to be summoned to the three-bedroom home were redacted.

People visit a make-shift memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church on Friday as they pay their respects to the victims of Wednesday’s shooting

A mother embraces her child as they visit the make-shift memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church on Friday morning

Police were also dispatched to the Westman home two years prior when they responded to a report of a ‘criminal offense’.

But the report blacks out all of the details describing the event.

Still, police said authorities did not have any information indicating that the school shooter suffered from any type of mental illness that would preclude the individual from obtaining pistols or semiautomatic weapons under Minnesota’s red flag law.

‘There is nothing in the investigation so far that would lead us to believe that anything was missed,’ he said, noting that beyond a traffic ticket Westman did not have a police record.