Minneapolis school shooter’s videos, writings examined in search for motive
Local law enforcement and the FBI will go through videos and writings from the perpetrator of a deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, police said Thursday.
“The focus remains trying to go through everything that we possibly can, following all of the evidence to its logical conclusion, trying to determine what a potential motive there actually is for this shooting,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara on NBC’s “TODAY.”
O’Hara said that they discovered “literally hundreds of pieces of evidence” but did not find additional firearms. He also said the FBI will help them go through these pieces of evidence.
Four warrants were already issued for the church and residences tied to the shooter, but officers are trying to get an electronic warrant to sift through the shooter’s electronic devices.
“Everything that we’ve seen so far is really a classic pathway to an active shooter,” he added.
O’Hara also said that the shooter seemed to have “a whole lot of hate against a whole variety of people, but nothing specific to point to as the motive for targeting this church.”
The shooter had scheduled to publish a manifesto on YouTube around the time of the shooting. The video was taken down and is being investigated by authorities. Law enforcement already found multiple messages written on gun magazines, including one that said “Kill Donald Trump.”
Law enforcement determined that the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, was a former student. The suspect’s mother worked at the parish.
On Wednesday, Westman opened fire on the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. The children were attending back-to-school mass. Westman, armed with a rifle, shotgun and a pistol, killed two children, wounded 14 others and wounded three adults.
O’Hara said some victims are still in critical condition, but “all of the victims are expected to survive.”
Moreover, the doors of the church had been locked after mass began, which “likely saved countless lives,” according to O’Hara.
Westman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.