Minneapolis gunman Robin Westman decided to attack his old Catholic school’s first Mass of the year after finding details about the mass online, according to disturbing, detailed notes he wrote. The gunman also admitted that he chose Annunciation Catholic School and the adjoining church as his targets because he was familiar with them.
Westman’s mother had been a secretary at that school and he himself had attended the school as a child. “The school schedule is publicly posted online so I should go through that and look for events that look promising. Oooo! Aug. 27th, that is an all-school mass!” the gunman had written in his diary on July 25.
Planned His Massacre Target
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Westman had made the chilling entry in his twisted handwritten diary that he shared on YouTube before Wednesday’s massacre, according to a New York Post report. “I bet the front doors will be unlocked today. I will go to Starbucks at 8:40, chill there, [then] walk to the church at 9:30, arrive about three minutes late,” he wrote in another Aug. 10 entry, describing his trial run of the shooting.
“I will walk down the west side and try door 22 on my way to the south doors. After Mass, I will try to exit out of the main doors and walk down the east side to go to the office,” he wrote in a homespun code of Russian Cyrillic and English words, which was translated by The New York Post.
He said that he chose the location because he was familiar with it and knew how to carry out the attack.
“I went to that school so I know the layout. I don’t think I really need to do that much recon at the start of the school,” he wrote.
Planned According to Order
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Westman’s diary details the meticulous planning behind his attack on Annunciation Catholic School and Church, including the exact parking spot he planned to use.
He also added: “The parking spot at Annunciation I wanted to use is a handicap spot, so it might be suspicious if I park there. It shouldn’t be a big deal initially, I don’t think I will be in my car long or even park in a spot now anyway,” he wrote.
This came as it was revealed that Westman admitted he was “tired of being trans” and wished he “never brainwashed” himself in the online manifesto posted before going on the rampage.
In the handwritten journal uploaded to YouTube before the attack, Westman complained about his long hair and regretted his decision to transition.
“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,” he wrote.
“I can’t cut my hair now as it would be 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,” he added.
Westman was a transgender woman and was previously known as Robert. She filed a petition in 2019 to legally change her name, according to court documents.
Westman requested the court to change her name to Robin, records from Dakota County, Minnesota, show.
Her mother, Mary, signed the application for the name change since Westman was still a minor at the time. The request was later approved in January 2020, with the petition noting that Westman “identifies as female and wishes her name to reflect that identity,” court papers show.
