'Nuke India,' 'Kill Trump': Minneapolis shooter wrote chilling messages on weapons
Robin Westman, 23, former student kills 2 school children during church service, wounds 17 others
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Two children were killed and 17 others injured when a gunman opened fire during a church service at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
The shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, later died from a self-inflicted gunshot in the parking lot.
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Westman, who had legally changed her name from Robert in 2020 after identifying as female, used a rifle, shotgun, and pistol—all legally purchased.
Authorities confirmed disturbing messages like “Kill Donald Trump” and “Nuke India” were scrawled on the weapons. A now-deleted YouTube channel linked to Westman showed videos featuring weapons, ammunition, and extremist writings.
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Journalist Laura Loomer said in a post on X that the Minnesota shooter had “Mashallah” and “Nuke India” written on his gun. He also wrote “Israel Must Fall”.
“Clearly influenced by anti-Indian and Anti-Jewish Islamic propaganda. Not really a shocker to see a person like this living in Ilhan Omar's district kill Catholics. Another example of the Red-Green alliance,” Loomer said.
Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, is the US representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019.
The shooting ended when the lone suspect, identified as Robin Westman, 23, "took own life" at the rear of the church, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, who declined to offer a possible motive for the attack.
A videotaped message by the suspect showed Westman struggled with depression and was fascinated by the perpetrators of past mass shootings.
FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency was investigating the attack as an "act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics."
Two victims, aged 8 and 10, were slain where they sat as the gunfire turned the morning Mass into pandemonium. It sent worshipers diving behind pews for cover while older children scrambled to shield younger ones, officials said. At least two of the church exits were blocked by wooden planks barricaded outside the doors, O'Hara said.
The violence struck at the start of an all-school Mass held annually on the first Wednesday of the academic year at Annunciation Catholic School.
In addition to the two children killed, 17 other people were struck by gunfire - 14 of them students ages 6 to 18 and three parishioners in their 80s, O'Hara said. All the injured were expected to recover, according to the chief.
A 2017 yearbook from the school showed that Westman, who went by the first name Robert at the time, had been a student there, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
With inputs from agencies
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