Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski identified as fatal victims of Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman as devastated father slams ‘coward’ killer: Live updates

The other victim who died in Wednesday’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church has been identified by her parents as 10-year-old Harper Moyski.

‘We are devastated to share that our beloved daughter, Harper Moyski, was tragically killed in the recent school shooting,’ Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin said in a statement.

They described their daughter as a ‘brihgt, joyful and deeply-loved 10 year old whosse laughter, kindness and spirit touched everyone who knew her.

‘Our hearts are broken, not only as parents, but also for Harper’s sister, who adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss,’ they continued, noting that they are ‘shattered and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.’

The grieving parents then called for action on gun control, saying they ‘believe it is important that [Harper’s] memory fuels action.

‘We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country,’ they said.

‘Change is possible and it is necessary – so that Harper’s story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies.’

Moyski and Flavin also said they are ‘deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers and support.

‘Harper’s light will alwasy shine though us and we hope her memory inspires others to work toward a safer, more compassionate world.’

The eight-year-old who was killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting was identified by his parents as Fletcher Merkel.

‘Yesterday, a coward decided to take our eight-year-old son Fletcher away from us,’ his grieving father Jesse said at a news conference.

‘Because of their actions,we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming.’

Jesse then asked the public ‘for sympathy and not your empathy as our family and the Annunciation community grieve and try to make sense of such a senseless act of violence.’

‘Please remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life,’ he continued, as he urged parents to ‘give your kids an extra hug and kiss today.’

‘We love you Fletcher, you will always be with us,’ Jesse concluded.

Only one child remains hospitalized at the Children’ Minnesota hospial in Minneaplis, hospital officials said.

The child’s condition remains unclearm but six other patients wre treated and discharged following the deadly shooting, according to CNN.

Hennepin Healthcare Clinic and Specialty Center had earlier said it was reating nine patients, including one child in critical condition.

Gun rights influencer Brandon Herrera called the Minneapolis school shooter a ‘demon’ in response to a video the shooter posted that praised Herrera and claimed the two met at a firearms conference.

‘Yeah, I met Brandon Herrera at SHOT Show last year and he and I had a conversation, a brief conversation, we agreed on a lot of things, so y’all should vote for Brandon Herrera for president,’ Westman said, before adding ‘f*** those kids.’

Equipped with non-lethal pepper spray, powder pellets, and live video feeds, the drones launch from secure charging stations, six per school, when gunfire is detected.

Developed by Campus Guardian Angel, the system has already completed trials in Texas and was recently demonstrated in three Florida schools.

Patrick Scallen, 71, who lives a block and a half away from Annunciation Catholic Church, recalled hearing gunshots, then sprinting to the church.

‘I just said I had to go. I had to be there and help, whatever it meant,’ he told USA TODAY.

He described how it was ‘eerily quiet’ as he approached the building and saw a gun magazine lying on the sidewalk.

Scallen ran inside and was approached by two little girls, one with a head wound and the other with a gunshot wound to the throat. He said a little boy who had an arm injury was also with them.

‘I knew I had to take care of those kids until the help came. And so we all stayed together,’ Scullen said. ‘I tried to calm them down, because they were really hurt.’

Here is what we know about the vicitms of Wednesday’s horrific mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and Church.

ABC’s Chief Investigative Reporter Aaron Katersky was reporting on the events inside the Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday where Robin Westman killed two kids.

Katersky mentioned the transgender gunman having left a video manifesto in which she revealed a twisted obsession with school shooters, along with a dislike of President Trump, and made a mockery of the Church.

Katersky said: ’23-year-old Robin Westman was able to leave what police called a video manifesto that they’re now going through to try and establish motive.

‘There are also photos of the weapons, and they include all sorts of writings: the names of past mass shooters, criticism of Israel, the name of President Trump written on the guns.

‘There are also racial slurs, nihilistic statements, all painting the picture of a disturbed individual who carried out this mass shooting on the first week of school at the Annunciation church in Minneapolis.’

A former Annunciation Catholic School employee told NBC News that Robin Westman was frequently sent to the principal’s office for being disruptive in the classroom.

Westman usually seemed nonchalant about the meetings, according to the employee, and did appear not to have many friends.

The employee also claimed that the suspect’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, who also worked at the school, had concerns about her child’s behavioral and social issues.

Mary Grace’s former colleague said the mother struggled with Westman’s transgender identity.

‘She said, “I don’t know how I feel about this.” I think she was struggling with her Catholic faith… She didn’t know how she felt, but it weighed heavily on her,'” the employee said.

Police say there was no evidence to suggest that Robin Westman was legally barred from purchasing a gun.

Before Wednesday’s shooting at Annunciation Church, Westman had no criminal history or documented mental health commitment.

Although Westman had made some disturbing posts online, that does not meet the legal threshold to prohibit firearms sales, Drew Evans, superintendent for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions, said.

‘We need the help of the public and everybody else if there’s concerning social media behavior by anybody – or that there’s concern in their community – that they are contacting their law enforcement so that we can adequately address that in the process,’ Evans said during a press conference Thursday.

‘That did not happen in this case.’

Investigators have not yet determined why Robin Westman targeted Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.

‘We have not found a specific trigger for why to target the children at this church,’ the chief said during a Thursday press conference.

While officers have not identified a ‘specific grievance’ against the church, they did note that Westman has personal connections to the parish and school.

The shooter’s mother worked for the school from 2016 through 2021.

Westman also studied at the school, but O’Hara said he did not how the ‘period of time exactly’ that the shooter was a student.

Police have not yet interviewed Robin Westman’s mother, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed today.

Investigators have interviewed ‘dozens’ of relatives’, ‘associates’ and ‘coworkers’, but have not been successfully spoken with Mary Westman yet.

Efforts to connect with her will continue, he added.

Mary used to work at the Catholic school where the massacre occurred.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who refused to give Robin Westman ‘notoriety’ by using the killer’s name, said he was obsessed with mass shooters.

The shooter had a ‘deranged fascination with previous mass shootings and disturbing writings’.

Westman also ‘fantasized about the plans of other mass shooters’, O’Hara added.

Joseph Thompson, the acting US Attorney for the District of Minnesota, added that Westmanwas ‘obsessed with the idea of killing children’.

‘The shooter expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable,’ Thompson said during Thursday’s press briefing.

‘The shooter expressed hate towards Black people. The shooter expressed hate towards Mexican people. The shooter expressed hate towards Christian people. The shooter expressed hate towards Jewish people.’

Thompson added: ‘In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us. The shooter’s heart was full of hate.’

Investigators have found that Robin Westman had the ‘intention to terrorize innocent children’.

They found evidence of hate in and that Westman expressed hatred towards the Jewish community and President Donald Trump.

Westman was not in FBI holdings prior to incident, police said.

The shooter had no diagnoses that investigators are aware and did not have any state ordered mental health commitments.

Police recovered three shot gun shells and 116 rifle rounds from the scene of the Annunciation school shooting, Chief Brian O’Hara said.

One live round was recovered from a hand gun that appeared to get stuck in the chamber.

FBI Director Kash Patel referred to transgender shooter Robin Westman as ‘he’ and used his dead name ‘Robert’ as he offered an update on the agency’s probe into the deadly Minneapolis school shooting.

‘As we continue to investigate yesterday’s barbaric attack from Robert Westman, the male subject, our teams have gathered information and evidence demonstrating this was an act of domestic terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology,’ Patel said.

He highlighted how Robin Westman’s manifesto contained anti-Catholic and anti-religious references.

The shooter also ‘expressed hatred and violence toward Jewish people’, the director said, citing how he used Holocaust rheotric and phrases such as ‘Israel must fall’.

‘He wrote a an explicit call for violence against President Trump on a firearm magazine,’ Patel added.

The FBI’s investigation into the massacre is still ongoing.

Authorities were poring over videos, writings and Robin Westman’s movements but have not yet seen nothing ‘specific to trigger the amount of hate that occurred yesterday’.

‘Everything we’ve seen so far is a classic pathway to an active shooter,’ Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said on NBC’s Today Show Thursday.

Investigators recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences, and are seeking warrants to search devices, the chief said.

They found more writings from the suspect, but no additional firearms.

Rep. Ilhan Omar echoed Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s call to ban assault weapons.

‘These are weapons that are used in war,’ the Somalia-born congresswoman, who represents Minnesota’s 5th congressional, said.

‘At the age of 8 I survived war myself. I never imagined that I would come to the United States and be in high school and that there would be a school shooting.

‘And that I myself, and my kids to come, would practice school drills on how to avoid being gunned down in one of the greatest nations in the world.’

The Democrat branded the system as ‘fundamentally broken’ and urged her fellow legislators to make a ‘simple ban’ on automatic weapons.

‘I know that in America we value life. I know that in America we are loving neighbors. I know that in America we are people of faith because these babies that were gunned down were actually kneeling in prayer.

‘But what I do not know is why, uniquely in America, we have the capacity to not change what we know we can,’ she continued.

‘That is what we must ask ourselves – this is not a big issue for us to solve like curing cancer or aids. This is something that is simple, a simple ban to make sure people who should not have access to these weapons get them and cause trauma for generations in our community.’

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for a nationwide ban on assault rifles after children and teachers were gunned down in church.

‘We need a state wide and federal ban on assault weapons,’ Frey said at a press conference today as he urged America to ‘stand up for our children’.

‘We need a state wide and federal ban on high capacity magazines.

‘There is no reason a person should be able to reel off 30 rounds before they need to reload.’

Frey said Minneapolis is ‘united in grief’ as families the children murdered at Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday, but also ‘united in action’.

‘We are 100 percent united to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,’ the Democrat said.

‘Of course we’re standing up with love, thoughts and prayers – but thoughts and prayers aren’t going to cut it. It’s on all of us to see this through so there is an action. We need action at a federal and state level.’

Minneapolis officials are about to hold a news conference about the mass shooting.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ordered a probe into the killer’s potential use of gender-affirming care drugs.

The health secretary told Fox & Friends an investigation would be launched to determine whether drugs Robin Westman may have used to transition to a woman played ‘a role’ in the mass shooting.

‘We are doing those kind of studies now,’ he said.

‘We are launching studies into their potential contribution.’

‘Some of the SSRI drugs and some other psychiatric drugs might be contributing to violence,’ RFK Jr added referring to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

‘Many of them have black-box warnings that warn of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation. So we can’t exclude those as a culprit, and those are the kind of studies we are doing.’

It is unclear if Westman had taken any gender-affirming medications.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have offered ‘prayers’ for victims of the deadly Minneapolis school shooting.

‘President Trump and the First Lady encourage the entire nation to join all of us in praying for the victims and their families as they face unimaginable grief and loss,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today.

The request for prayers comes as the City of Minneapolis identified an additional victim in the bloody massacre.

Two children, aged eight and 10, were killed in the attack. Fifteen children, between the ages of 6 and 15, were injured.

Three adults were also shot during the back-to-school Mass.

Officials previously said there were 18 people injured in the rampage, including 14 children.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt branded killer Robin Westman as ‘deranged’ in her Thursday afternoon address.

‘A deranged shooter opened fire during morning Mass, killing an innocent eight-year-old and 10-year-old,’ she said.

‘This was the first morning Mass of the school year for these beautiful, innocent children and the sacred religious service was desecrated by an evil monster.’

Leavitt reitereated the FBI is investigating the shooting as an ‘act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics’.

Robin Westman penned a suicide note, addressed to ‘my family and friends’, before carrying out the deadly Minneapolis school shooting.

The killer, 23, claimed to be ‘corrupted by this world’ and had ‘learned to hate what life is’, the disturbing four-page note said.

‘I have wanted this for so long. I am not well. I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away,’ Westman wrote.

‘I know this is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years. Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world.’

Westman concluded by asking for ‘prayers’ for the shooting victims and their loved ones.

Robin Westman’s neighbors say the killer appeared to live a normal life and didn’t exhibit any suspicious behavior.

The 23-year-old lived in a unit at the Lynwood Commons Apartments complex, a roughly 10 minute drive away from Annunciation Church.

A neighbor claims Westman ‘didn’t stand out’ and appeared to be a ‘normal young person’, Fox News reports.

‘[Westman] looked like any other 20-something-year-old. Came into the building, ordered fast food, went to work, came home. [Westman] had friends. Nothing stood out,’ one resident said.

Another added that if Westman done ‘anything beyond sketchy’ that someone in the complex would have ‘called long before now’.

The pair also noted that Westman appeared to have a female roommate. Daily Mail has not independently confirmed that claim.

Pictured: A Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officer raids Robin Westman’s apartment after Wednesday’s shooting

Horrifying footage has emerged from inside the Annunciation Catholic School and Church showing children fleeing as a crazed gunman opened fire.

The grim clip, obtained by CNN, shows dozens of kids sprinting to the exit in Minneapolis on Wednesday as Robin Westman fired shots inside.

They can be seen anxiously leaving the place of worship as one adult asks: ‘Where is the shooter?’

Some look to be hunched over as if to keep a low profile over fears anymore bullets would be fired at them. Others also covered their ears as blasts rang out.

Amy Forchas rushed to work at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning with no idea her life was about to be upended.

Among the victims was her daughter, 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, who was critically wounded during the attack that killed two kids and injured 17 people.

Sophia had emergency surgery at her mother’s hospital and doctors were working to stabilize her in the ICU, her loved ones say.

‘Her road ahead will be long, uncertain, and incredibly difficult – but she is strong, and she is not alone,’ they wrote.

A nurse went above and beyond to comfort an elementary school student who was injured in Minneapolis massacre.

The little girl was ‘very scared’ as medical staff prepared to give her a CT scan at Hennepin County Medical Center.

That’s when a nurse manager decided to climb into the scanner with the child, trauma surgeon Dr. Jon Gayken told CNN.

‘She put a little lead on and held her hand and held her hair while she went through the scanner…so she didn’t have to go through it alone,’ the doctor recalled.

Staff usually evacuate the room during a scan, but the nurse put ‘herself basically in harm’s way of radiation’ to be there for the patient.

Robert Westman visited Annunciation Church weeks before carrying out a massacre during the parish school’s start-of-year Mass.

Westman, a former Annunciation Catholic School student, went to the church under the guise of wanting to reconnect with the Catholic faith, inestigators say.

It is believed that during the visit, Westman sketched the interior of the church, as seen in the shooter’s manifesto.

The killer is understood to have spent more than a month planning the deadly shooting.

The MSNBC star ripped reps’ ‘bullsh*t excuses’ on at 6:07am on Thursday after playing back a clip of a child explaining how they practice shooter drills in school but not in church.

Nine shooting victims are still in hospital after Wednesday’s horrific massacre at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.

Six patients ‘are in satisfactory condition’, Hennepin Healthcare CEO Dr. Thomas Klemond said during a Thursday morning press briefing.

He noted ‘five of those patients are children’.

Klemond says one child is currently in ‘critical condition’. One adult and one child are also in ‘serious condition’.

Robin Westman had few friends as a child and terrified his classmates with public salutes to Adolf Hitler, a former friend says.

Josefina Sanchez, who went to school with the killer, shared a short-lived friendship with Westman – then Robert – in seventh grade.

Sanchez claims it was clear ‘something was off’ with Westman, alleging the shooter had odd obsessions and demonstrated ‘erratic’ behavior.

‘He would put up his hand and praise Hitler,’ she told KSTP.

Sanchez claimed the killer’s manifesto was ‘triggering’ and reminded her of how Westman used to write in secret codes during their school days.

‘I think that’s a spiritual battle,’ she said of the manifesto. ‘I don’t think it’s this world, it’s demonic, I’m sorry, it is. I think we need Jesus. He needed him.’

Pictured: Robert Westman in an old yearbook photo

Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman originally planned to carry out the massacre from inside the church, it has emerged.

Westman, 23, ‘pepper-sprayed’ bullets through the Annunciation Catholic Church’s stained glass windows on Wednesday, killing two and injuring 17 others.

But investigators believe the killer initially intended to enter the church, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara revealed today during an appearance on CNN.

O’Hara said the shooter allegedly planned to enhter the church through the main doors after barricading the side enterances with two-by-fours.

Westman was unable to enter the church because the doors were locked.

‘A number of the doors had been locked once Mass began, which is part of their normal procedure,’ O’Hara said. ‘We believe that this step also played a part in ensuring this tragedy did not become that much worse.’

Pictured: Windows damaged during Wednesday’s shooting are boarded up at Annunciation Catholic Church

Robin Westman self-identified as a transgender woman and legally changed her name to Robert.

A name change filing from 2020 reveals Westman identified ‘as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification’.

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 if the killer had attempted to alter her birth certificate, she 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 alter her birth certificate and it is unclear how far along the gender transition process Westman was or if she had taken any gender affirming medications.

Authorities are looking for a motive for the shooter who killed two children in a rampage at Annunciation Catholic School.

Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds Wednesday morning toward the children sitting in the pews during the school’s start-of-year Mass.

Investigators were examining the videos, writings and Westman’s movements in an effort to determine a motive for the massacre.

Westman’s twisted manifesto was shared in a 20-minute-long video posted on her since-deleted YouTube account.

The shooter first showed off a kill kit of ammunition, magazines and firearms, while revealing a twisted obsession with school shooters, along with a dislike of President Donald Trump, and mockery of the church.

Westman also showed the camera pages of handwritten notes in a final letter to their family and friends. In the letter, she claimed to have cancer caused by a vaping habit.

Westman went on to write that they wanted ‘to go out on my own means’.

‘Unfortunately, due to my depression, anger and twisted mind, I want to fulfill a final act that has been in the back of my head for years,’ Westman wrote.

Other unhinged ramblings on Westman’s stash of magazines and guns revealed a hatred for Donald Trump and mockery of the Catholic church.

‘Take this all of you, and eat!’, ‘Do you believe in God?’ and ‘Where is your God?’, read some of the anti-church messages. ‘Kill Donald Trump,’ read another.

Westerman also appeared to be struggling with her gender identity, having complained in the manifesto that she was ‘tired of being trans’ and claimed she had ‘brainwashed herself’.

The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.

Court records seen by the Daily Mail reveal Westman, 23, was previously known as Robert, before changing her name in 2019.

According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman said she now ‘identified as a woman’.

But in a handwritten manifesto shared by the shooter in a YouTube video before opening fire, Westman appeared to question her decision.

‘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.’

A hero police officer chased after Robin Waterman after the shooter opened fire on Annunciation Catholic Church.

The officer came into the church as shots were ringing out and ran off seconds later in an attempt to locate the shooter, one parent has claimed.

‘He was just a normal, every day beat cop. No special equipment, no special helmet or anything and he just immediately ran toward the direction of the shooter,’ Shea McAdaragh told CNN.

‘That’s when I knew I was safe, the children were safe, and we were able to start triaging the kids.’

A little girl who had been shot in the head during the Annunciation Catholic School shooting leaned on a community member for help after the terrifying rampage.

Pat Scallen, who lives near the church, rushed to Annunciation after he heard gunshots ring out.

He saw wounded children outside the building, recalling how they were ‘very frightened’ and ‘wanted their mom and dad’.

‘I sat them down and just tried to keep them calm, and I was watching them close to see if there’d be any change in their status,’ he told ABC News.

He said a young girl who was struck in the head asked: ‘Please just hold my hand.’

Robin Westman planned to wear a ‘girly’ outfit during ‘my shooting’, her chilling manifesto revealed.

Westman, 23, was transgender and legally changed her name from Robert to Robin because she ‘identifies as female’.

As she was planning the horror attack on Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Westman considered how she might dress during the rampage.

‘I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it,’ she wrote in the disturbing manifesto that was filled with hateful rhetoric and apparent confusion over her gender identity.

‘I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man,’ Westman continued.

‘I really like my outfit. I look pretty, smart and modest. I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting.’

Westman dressed in all black and was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol – during the attack. All three weapons were used in the massacre.

The killer’s manifesto also revealed that Westman had scrawled the names of other mass shooters on gun magazines.

Other phrases written on the magazines included ‘for the children’ and ‘where is your God?’, as well as a call for President Donald Trump to be killed.

Annunciation Catholic School’s start-of-year mass was thrown into ‘complete chaos’ when Robin Westman opened fire on the liturgy.

Eleven-year-old student Chloe thought she was ‘going to die’ when the rampage began, her father Vincent Francoual said.

He rushed to the campus after tragedy struck in hopes of rescuing his little girl.

‘It was very emotional. She saw me first, and she just cried,’ Francoual told The Mirror. He claims Chloe is ‘not really talking much’ about the incident and feels ‘guilty’ that she was unable to help her classmates.

Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told reporters he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was lying on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.

‘I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,’ the 10-year-old said.

A youth minister who was sitting inside the church with the children said the attack lasted around two minutes.

‘I was just feet away from this window where it was,’ Ellie Martens added. ‘The pew saved my life’.

Robin Westman had been preparing the attack on Annunciation Catholic Church for over a month, the killer’s manifesto reveals.

Westman, 23, left behind a notes, largely written in Cyrillic letters, detailing her plan for the August 27 massacre.

In notes dated back to late July, Westman wrote that plans were ‘moving swiftly into place’ and she was ‘feeling good about Annunciation’, BBC reports.

The killer decided the school was a ‘good combo of easy attack for me and devastating tragedy’.

She initially considered targeting a ‘big assembly on the first day of school’, the manifesto revealed, but ultimately decided it was too risky.

The shooter attempted to visit the school ahead of the shooting because she wanted to check how many students were there and ‘make sure this place is worth attacking’.

But Westman was not able to clearly see as she drove by the campus.

The first day of school was August 25. It is unclear when the drive-by took place.

Haunting 911 audio has captured the unfolding horror as first responders rushed to the scene of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Catholic school’s church.

‘Minneapolis has a possible active shooter,’ one of the first responders said, as others were advised to bring as much medical equipment to the shooting as possible.

Another responder relayed over the radio, first revealed by FOX 9: ‘Bring all the gauze that you have.’

As hospitals were told to prepare for a mass casualty event, the dispatch audio heard one responder say there were ‘two DOAs inside the church’ – meaning two would be ‘dead on arrival’.

‘We have… two patients with gunshot wounds to their heads in front. There’s also a critical patient in the rear of the church,’ another responder said over the radio.

It’s unclear when classes will resume at Annunciation Catholic School after the deadly shooting attack during students’ first week of class.

Principal Matthew DeBoer and Pastor Dennis Zehren mourned the loss of two ‘beloved students’ killed in Wednesday’s attack and called for prayers in an update to the school and Annunciation Church community.

The message said the school and church were working with ‘a myriad of professional agencies’ and that it would take time for the community to get back on its feet.

‘As we process and navigate this unfathomable time together, we will be in touch this weekend regarding when school will resume.

‘Investigators and others are still on campus doing their essential work and we expect this to continue for some time,’ the statement read.

School officials will also announce available support services in coming days, according to the Facebook post, which stressed unity as students, parishoners and their families endure ‘an impossible situation together.’

The message concluded: ‘No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks.
But we will navigate this – together.’

Just hours after Robin Westman opened fire through the windows of Annunciation Catholic School, hundreds crowded inside a nearby school’s gym, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Gov. Tim Walz and clergy members.

Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday night, while hundreds more waited outside, Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the students trying to shield their classmates as the gunfire erupted.

‘In the midst of that there was courage, there was bravery, but most especially there was love,’ he said at the Academy of Holy Angels, about 2 miles away from the site of the massacre.

The Rev. Dennis Zehren was to give a sermon to the congregation that Wednesday. At the vigil held later that night, his face and eyes were red against his white vestments.

When asked what he planned to tell the students on their first week of school, emotion choked his voice.

At the vigil, Archbishop Bernard Hebda addressed some 2,000 people, where psalms were sung and the silences burrowed deep in the wide room.

‘I can understand why someone could resonate with the Psalmist’s question: “Why, oh God, have you forgotten me?”‘ Hebda said. ‘The example of Mary, a mother and a disciple who knew great suffering in her own life, should give each of us courage and hope.’

Robin Westman shot through stained glass windows at children sitting praying on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday.

Westman, a transgender woman who changed her name from Robert in 2019, was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, police said. 

Westman, 23, fired all three weapons, which police said were purchased legally, during the attack.

In a deranged video posted on YouTube, the shooter explained how she was ‘feeling good’ about committing a ‘devastating tragedy’ at Annunciation Catholic School.

Westman also showed a rifle magazine labeled ‘For the children, hahahahahahaha.’

Westman, previously known as Robert, petitioned to have her name changed in 2019. According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman asked the court to change her name to Robin.

Westman’s mother Mary sign the application for a name change as she was still a minor at the time.

The petition was later approved in January of 2020, it adds that Westman: ‘Identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.’

But Robin appeared to have some confusion about her gender.

‘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,’ she wrote.

‘I really like my outfit. I look pretty, smart and modest. I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting.’

The Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced transphobia after the revelations about Westman’s identity.

Minneapolis is in mourning today after Robin Westman opened fire on praying students and staff yesterday.

Police are continuing their investigation into the fatal massacre as community members rally together to support the victims and their families.

Prayer services and a news briefing are expected to take place throughout the day as the city seeks a path forward.

Here are the events scheduled for Thursday:

• Prayer service of peace and healing: Cathedral of St. Paul, 12pm CT (1pm ET)
• News briefing: Minneapolis City Hall, 1pm CT (2pm ET) – The briefing will be attended by state lawmakers, gun violence activists and clergy members.
• Interfaith service: Basilica of St. Mary, 5.30pm CT (5.30pm ET)

Robin Westman, 23, posted a suicide note to a now-deleted YouTube page just hours before shooting through stained glass windows at children sitting on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church on Wednesday morning.

The shooter explained in a note the reason for carrying out the attack in Minneapolis, while apologizing to her family and friends – and offered one final request.

‘Pray for the victims and their families,’ Westman concluded her rambling note, despite having a rifle magazine labeled ‘For the children, hahahahahahaha.’

Earlier in the letter, Westman wrote about struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts for years – which were apparently aggravated by the belief she was dying of cancer from vaping.

Robin Westman, 23, then a boy known as ‘Robert’, wrote an ode to death titled ‘But Not The End’ outlining concerns death would come with ‘regrets that my name not be known for something more’, according to the Star Tribune.

The chilling note came from Westman’s time as a pupil at St. Thomas Academy, a Catholic all-boys school in Mendota Heights, Minneapolis, where students are referred to as cadets, wear uniform and are trained in military skills.

It was one of several schools Westman attended during a seemingly turbulent childhood that included going to one school for just three months, watching a parental divorce and struggling with his gender identity.

The FBI has described Westman’s attack as a hate crime against Catholics, while police are still investigating the motive.

Pictured: Robin Westman in her 2021 high school graduation photograph

Minnesota shooter Robin Westman’s mother appeared distraught over the horrific massacre at Annunciation Catholic School.

Westman, whose mother Mary formerly worked at the school, was broken down in tears when the Star Tribune called her in wake of the tragedy.

The newspaper approached Mary just a few hours after the rampage and appeared ‘distraught’ as she cried on the phone.

She said at the time that she did not know if her daughter was the shooter.

Mary provided ‘wonderful hospitality’ at the school before her 2021 retirement and has five other children.

Westman, previously been known as Robert, petitioned to have her name changed in 2019 because she ‘identifies as a female’. According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman asked the court to change her name to Robin.

Mary signed the application for a name change as she was still a minor at the time.

Pictured: Mary and Robert Westman

Annunciation Catholic School shooter Robin Westman had been planning an act of violence for a long time, a former co-worker has claimed.

Westman, 23, had been working at a cannabis dispensary in Eagan, about 17 miles from Minneapolis, until August 16 this year.

The shooter voluntarily left her role at Rise, with a colleague alleging the decision came after a series of disciplinary action.

The co-worker, speaking to the Star Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said Westman had been disciplined for tardiness and skipping work.

The employee also alleged Westman made comments during her employment that suggested ‘recent events have been the catalyst for this thing [she] has been planning for a long time’.

A spokesperson for Rise’s parent company Green Thumb Industries confirmed Westman had worked at the dispensary for several months this year, but was not an employee at the time of Wednesday’s horrific shooting.

‘We are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today in Minnesota,’ the spokesperson said, adding that their ‘deepest condolences go out to the victims, their families and the entire community impacted by this senseless act of violence’.