SCHOOL shooter Robin Westman acted friendly and warm while shopping for guns just days before opening fire on a church and murdering two praying children, a shop owner has said.
Eerie surveillance footage has captured Westman, 23, chatting with employees just days before firing over 100 rounds at a morning mass held at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Eerie surveillance footage of school shooter Robin Westman browsing guns has been revealed[/caption]
A makeshift memorial has been set up outside the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Westman murdered two students[/caption]
Westman acted friendly and personable during his 40-minute visit to Frontiersman, the owner revealed[/caption]
On August 27, the gunman murdered little Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8, and injured 18 others at the Annunciation Church before dying by suicide as cops stormed the scene.
The morning of the attack, a scheduled video was posted on YouTube that appeared to show Westman laughing maniacally while showing off a manifesto and a collection of guns.
The weapons had disturbing messages scrawled on the side in white, including apparent references to other school shooters and antisemitic phrases.
On the day of the shooting, cops said that Westman’s weapons were legally purchased by the gunman, not long before the attack.
Now, the owner of a gun shop that sold Westman a weapon has opened up on the now-disturbing brush with the killer.
Kory Krause, who runs Frontiersman, said that he was stunned after reviewing surveillance footage that showed the shooter speaking happily with his employees on August 23.
“He was friendly, he was jovial, he smiled, laughed, asked questions,” Krause told ABC affiliate KSTP, which first obtained the video.
“He interacted with three of our staff in a friendly manner.”
Krause wasn’t at the store at the time, but he says that all of his employees there were seasoned and knew the red flags that crop up in bad actors.
“What could I have done? What could I have caught?” the store owner asked.
In the videos, Westman, who was wearing a t-shirt from a local chain of cannabis dispensaries, could be seen picking up weapons on the sales floor and pointing them at the ceiling to test how they handled.
The gunman appeared to smile and nod at workers who answered questions and helped grab items from behind the counters.
Westman spent 40 minutes browsing the store before purchasing a small 38 special revolver, which wasn’t used in the attack.
After reviewing the footage, Krause said that he was absolutely horrified by what he saw.
“The first time I watched all of this I literally feel like I have to take a shower afterwards,” Krause said.
“We are devastated by this.”
Westman purchased a small gun at the store that wasn’t identified in search warrants[/caption]
Flowers have now lined a pathway to the shooting scene[/caption]
Little 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel was named as one of the students killed by Westman[/caption]
Harper Moyski, 10, was also killed by the gunfire[/caption]
MYSTERY DEEPENS
Westman was once a student at Annunciation, and the shooting is being investigated as a terror attack and hate crime against Catholics, the FBI said.
The gunman’s mother, Mary Grace, also worked at the school until she retired in 2021, the Associated Press reported.
The gunman’s gender identity remains a mystery, as a petition was submitted in 2020 to change Westman’s name from Robert to Robin.
The filing, which was signed by Mary Grace, said the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Annunciation Catholic School shooting timeline
TWO children have been killed and 17 injured after a lone gunman shrouded in a black outfit opened fire inside a Minnesota Catholic school.
Here is a timeline of how the fatal tragedy unfolded.
- On Wednesday morning at 8:15 am CT, students at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis gathered for their scheduled all-school mass
- Just before 8:30, Minneapolis police responded to a call that there was a shooting
- Cops say that a lone gunman in his early 20s fired a rifle, shotgun, and pistol through the windows as children aged pre-K through eighth grade prayed inside
- Two children aged eight and 10 were killed, and 17 others, including 14 children, were injured by the gunfire
- The shooter later died after appearing to take his own life at the back of the church
- At 9:32 am, the Minneapolis Police Department confirmed that the shooter had been “contained.”
First responders initially referred to Westman as a man, while federal officials have called the gunman transgender.
Krause said that Westman appeared to present as a man, but identified as a woman on paperwork signed at his shop.
Though the exact motive remains a mystery, officials said that Westman expressed a sickening disdain for all of humanity in the deranged writings posted on YouTube.
“The shooter expressed hate toward almost every group imaginable,” the US District Attorney of Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, said.
“The shooter expressed hate toward Black people. The shooter expressed hate toward Mexican people. The shooter expressed hate toward Christian people. The shooter expressed hate toward Jewish people.
“In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us.”
Westman’s gender identity remains a mystery[/caption]
Cops swarmed the scene after getting reports of the shooting[/caption]
SEARCH FOR ANSWERS
Krause said that he released the surveillance in the hopes it would help lead to answers for grieving families wondering why Westman targeted their children.
He confirmed that federal authorities obtained the footage last week and have it in their possession.
It’s still unclear where Westman purchased the weapons actually used in the horrific shooting.
What we know about the Minneapolis shooting…
- Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed while praying in pews
- 17 others were injured, including 14 children, and a local hospital is currently treating nine pediatric patients
- The suspect has been identified as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old who died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot
- Westman uploaded a sick video manically laughing minutes before the shooting, showing off disturbing messages written across multiple guns, including a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol with several magazines
- Sobbing children were evacuated from the church to reunite with their worried parents, with one boy overheard telling his dad, “I don’t feel safe”
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he was briefed and is “praying for our kids and teachers”
- President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation and ordered flags at half-staff to mourn the victims
The footage release comes after investigators said the gunman fantasized about murdering children and wanted to watch them suffer before firing off 116 rounds.
The FBI was spotted swooping in on Westman’s mom’s home and demanding she come out and speak with them.
And in one eerie part of the manifesto, the gunman admitted to feeling tired of being transgender.
