The shooter who killed two young children and injured 18 more people in a Minneapolis church on Wednesday was “obsessed with the idea of killing children,” expressed hate for people from many different backgrounds, and “idolized” other school shooters, authorities said at a press conference Thursday.
The alleged shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, left behind hundreds of pages of writings that reveal “pure, indiscriminate hate” toward various groups of people, including Black people, Mexicans, Christians, and Jews, said Joe Thompson, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota.
“In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us,” Thompson concluded.
The suspect, who was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound behind the church, did have one particular fixation, he continued.
“More than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children, defenseless children,” Thompson said. “The shooter was obsessed with the idea of killing children.”
Minneapolis Church Shooting: 18 Injured, Including 15 Children Aged 6-15 and 3 Elderly Adults. Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed the updated victim count, revealing a range of injuries from minor to critical
Minneapolis Church Shooting: Victims Suffer Graze Wounds to Critical Injuries; Some Released, Others Remain in Critical Condition
Based on hundreds of pieces of evidence collected after executing four search warrants, authorities know the shooter “idolized some of the most notorious school shooters and mass murderers in our country’s history,” Thompson said. O’Hara described it as a “deranged fascination with previous mass shootings.”
Minneapolis Church's Back-to-School Mass Security Measure Thwarted School Shooter
Minneapolis Church Shooting: Locked Doors Likely Saved Lives During Attack. Annunciation Church's policy of locking doors after Mass began likely prevented further casualties in Wednesday's tragic shooting, where a gunman obsessed with killing children murdered two and injured 18
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Minneapolis Church Shooting: Gun Malfunction During Attack
Officials added that they had not found the shooter in any FBI records, nor had they found evidence of any state-ordered mental health commitments.
Source: Original Article