One of her former teachers of Minneapolis shooter Robin Westman had raised concerns over her mental health years before she carried out a senseless attack inside a church, killing two children and injuring 18 others.
The 23-year-old transgender gunman shot dead eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski while they were attending Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. It didn’t take much time for art teacher Sarah Reely to identify Westman as a former student who went by Bob in her class after an old photo of her from before the transition surfaced online following the shooting. Reely was initially left shocked after seeing the photo.
Mental Health Issues Not New
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Reely, on her Facebook page, shared that she had known Westman as “Bob,” writing: “I knew this was a kid who needed help.” “She was definitely odd, was really into furries and odd artwork and said some odd things, but wasn’t violent towards others to my knowledge,” Reely added.
Reely said that Westman showed clear “signs of self-harm” on her arms, adding: “I reported a need for help because I saw the evidence of self-harm on her arms.
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“Self harm is either a cry for help, an indication of self hate, or both. But it’s always sign something is wrong. Then she transferred her again and she vanished.”
Reely said that “being odd isn’t a red flag” but it soon became apparent that Westman “did not fit in well, as one might imagine would happen to a queer kid in a conservative environment, so I intentionally made a point to build a relationship with this student.”
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The post included a bizarre sculpture that Westman had once created for Reely — a piece she eventually misplaced but said she had “kept a photo of.” “She loved art,” Reely recalled.
Early Signs of Trouble
Court documents from Dakota County, Minnesota, show that in 2020 Westman legally changed the name from Robert to Robin to reflect “[identifying] as a woman.” However, in a handwritten manifesto posted in a YouTube video just before the attack, Westman appeared to raise doubt about his decision.
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“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.
“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 took her own life moments after the shooting began. A dispatcher was heard reporting: “We have one suspect with a gunshot wound to the head – has a rifle and shotgun – he’s down right now.”
