by Alan Langstaff

In the city where I live, on Wednesday, August 27th, a tragedy took place in Minneapolis. Just before 8:30 am at the beginning of the school year, a Mass to mark the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School, which is next door to the church it happened, a tragedy took place. 

A former student, Robin (originally Robert) Westman, opened fire through the narrow windows of the church using a rifle, shotgun, and pistol. Staff members moved students under the pews within seconds of the shooting. “Adults were protecting children, older children were protecting younger children,” said Annunciation Catholic School principal Matthew DeBoer. “It could have been significantly worse without their heroic actions.”

Nevertheless, two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews. 18 other people were injured, including three adult parishioners and 15 children between the ages of 6 and 15. Police Chief O’Hara reported that all the wounded victims were expected to recover, although two of the shooting victims were in serious condition, including one girl who is in critical condition.

The shooter took his own life. 

WHO IS THE SHOOTER

The shooter was Robin Westman. He was 23 years of age. He was a former student at the school, and his mother worked there until retiring in 2021. He had no prior criminal record, and the guns he bought just recently were purchased legally. 

He was transexual. His original name was Robert, and in 2020, Westman’s mother applied to change the name of her 17-year-old child from Robert to Robin as “minor child identifies as female and wants to reflect that identification.”

Strangely enough, Robin Westman did not project to many people a young man with a problem. A couple who were both mental health professionals and lived near him declared that he, Westman, looked like any other 23-year-old coming and going to work.

I have a friend I have known for 40 years. He shared with me that he had met Westman a number of times, and he was quite a pleasant person to talk to.

Beyond the tragedy that took place and the pain that families and the community are experiencing. It raises significant issues.

1) ISSUE OF MOTIVE

The motive behind the shooting is a matter for the police to seek to uncover.

He was called “a coward” by people at the Press Meeting, and the actions showed evidence of deep hatred. He is being investigated as a “domestic terrorist” by the FBI.

People will have all sorts of ideas as to what his motives were, and much speculation will take place. 

2) ISSUE OF BEING A TRANSEXUAL

Robin Westman was transexual, but it appears he had second thoughts about it. An article in Newsmax entitled “Minneapolis Shooter was ‘Tired of Being Trans” declares:

“The 23-year-old transgender shooter who killed two children and wounded 17 others at a Minneapolis Catholic school Wednesday, reportedly left behind a handwritten journal in which he expressed regret over his sex change.

“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 shooter wrote, according to the New York Post’s translation of the manifesto.

The suicidal and homicidal shooter, 23, who was found dead in the school parking lot from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, wanted to be known as Robin Westman after being born a boy called Robert. The journal, posted on YouTube before the massacre, also contained further reflections on his identity.

“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,” Westman wrote. “It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.

In other passages, Westman vacillated on gender identity.

“I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it,” Westman wrote. “I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.”

The Post further reported Westman’s writings revealed violent fantasies, including a desire to be “the scary horrible monster standing over those powerless kids,” as well as praise for the Sandy Hook school massacre.

Videos posted under his name also showed phrases like “kill Donald Trump” and “for the children” scrawled on gun magazines.

3) ISSUE OF PRAYER

Officials, politicians, and commentators had much to say about Prayer.

“Thoughts and prayers, I’m so beyond that nonsense. The lie of that,” MSNBC’s Michael Steele said Wednesday.

“Liberal media figures and politicians criticized calls for prayer on Wednesday after the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school left the nation reeling….

“These children were probably praying when they were shot to death at Catholic school. Don’t give us your f—— thoughts and prayers. Trump got rid of the Office of Gun Violence and Prevention. Trump gutted the resources that were in place to keep our communities safe,” Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., wrote on social media. …

MSNBC host Jen Psaki also criticized prayer in a post on social media following the shooting.

“Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers does not end school shootings. [P]rayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers,” she wrote on X.”

(by Hanna Panreck, FoxNews.com)

By contrast, the Minnesota Family Council called for Prayer.

“But now is the time for prayer. Prayer to the only one who has the power to bring the balm of peace to a grieving state and nation. Prayer is the most powerful form of action we can take. But let your prayers not “heap up empty phrases” (Matthew 6:7), rather, cry out to God in faith that the “prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).

And join us in praising God for the first responders and the courage of many on the scene of the shooting, such as a boy named Victor who was willing to lay down his life for his friend, protecting him from bullets with his own small body, garnering a wound in his back in the process.”

Likewise, Catholic clergy also spoke, commending the need for prayer.

4) ISSUE REGARDING DEMONIC EVIL

“A woman who identified herself as a former grade school classmate of the Minneapolis church shooter said that she knew something wasn’t right with him. 

Josefina Sanchez made the admission to KSTP on Wednesday after a 23-year-old born with the name Robert Westman, who later identified as Robin Westman, opened fire at a Mass being held at the Annunciation Catholic Church, which was attended by students from the attached school. The attack left two children dead and 17 others injured, 14 of whom were children. 

“Something I knew was off, but I was a kid, how would I know like what to do?” Sanchez told KSTP, which reported that she was a seventh-grade classmate of Westman. 

When you see something erratic, it doesn’t leave your mind so… [Westman] would put up his hand and say like, ‘praise Hitler,’” Sanchez added. …

A disturbing video posted by a person using the same name as the shooter was deleted from YouTube after the shooting, showing handwritten pages of a notebook, bullets, weapons with messages painted on them and commentary from whoever filmed them. …

“I think it’s actually a spiritual battle,” Sanchez said to KSTP in reference to the video. “I don’t think it’s this world, it’s demonic, I’m sorry, but it is. I think we need Jesus. [Westman] needed him.” 

“I wish I could have said something sooner, but I was little, how do I know?” she also said.”

(by Greg Norman, FoxNews.com)

5) ISSUE OF GUNS

It is only to be expected that the issue of gun legislation would be raised. It is an issue that is not easily resolved, and the nation is divided on this issue.

I feel that automatic and semi-automatic guns at least should be banned. But behind it all is the issue of mental health. It is obvious he had a mental problem, and he wanted to kill children and all sorts of people, including Christians and Catholics, as well as President Trump.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO

1. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to give final decisions regarding all the issues involved.

2. Pray. Pray for the families who lost loved ones. It is hard to imagine how they must be after such a tragedy.

3. Pray for the parents of Robin Westman, as they are affected by it all.

4. Pray for the Church family at the Catholic School and the Catholic Church. It will have lasting consequences for them all.

5. Pray for the authorities who are pursuing this case, especially to discover, if they can, the motive behind it all.

Lord, have mercy on us all.