The Minneapolis school shooter had broken up with a romantic partner before carrying out the horrific attack, it has emerged.
Robin Westman, who identifies as a transgender woman, had been involved with a ‘significant’ partner, but the relationship recently ended, the killer’s father told police. The gender of Westman’s former ‘romantic partner’ is unclear.
The killer had been staying with a friend in the aftermath of the break-up, according to a search warrant obtained by FOX 9.
Westman on Wednesday fired 116 rifle rounds through stained-glass windows at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis while school children celebrated Mass.
The mass shooting killed two students, ages eight and 10, and left 18 others injured.
Investigators recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences associated with the 23-year-old shooter.
They found hate-filled writings from the suspect and detailed plans for the massacre, but no clear motive for the attack on the church the shooter once attended.
Westman had a ‘deranged fascination’ with mass killings and suggested in the manifesto that there was not one singular motive for the attack.
Robin Westman (pictured) recently ‘broke up with a significant and/or romantic partner’, the killer’s father told police
Westman was previously known as Robert before undergoing a legal name change name in 2020.
According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman wanted to take on the name Robin to reflect that Westman identified ‘as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification’.
But in a handwritten manifesto shared by the shooter in a YouTube video before opening fire, Westman appeared to question the decision to transition.
Westman complained about being ‘tired of being trans’ and said she had been ‘brainwashed’.
‘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 also wrote about struggling with how to identify, adding: ‘I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.’
Under Minnesota law, changing legal name is far more straightforward than if an individual wishes to change their official birth certificate.
Westman only had to petition for the name change, but to alter a birth certificate, the killer would need a doctor’s letter showing ‘medical certification of appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition.’
It is not known if the killer ever tried to do this, and it is unclear if doctors ever prescribed medication for Westman’s gender transition.
It is also unknown if Westman had ever taken any gender-affirming medications.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
