Minneapolis school shooter was ‘obsessed with killing children’ and ‘wanted them to suffer’, police say as fresh details emerge
The killer in the Minneapolis school shooting was "obsessed with the idea of killing children" and wanted them to suffer, police have confirmed - as fresh details of the murderer emerge.
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Robin Westman, 23, gunned down two children and injured 18 after opening fire on Annunciation Catholic School during mass on Wednesday morning.
Police say it is clear the killer, who turned the gun on themselves after massacre, had an obsession with hate and previous mass shooters.
"Certainly, there's evidence of hate," Minnesota's Acting Attorney General Joseph Thompson told a press conference.
Officials have since recovered Westman’s writings in what appears to be a manifesto.
Mr Thompson said that after reading them it is clear the attacker "appeared to hate all of us", but the school attackers and mass murderers were especially idolised by the killer.
"I won't dignify the attacker's words by repeating them, they are horrific and vile. But in short, the attacker wanted to watch children suffer," he says.
He added: "One thing is clear, and it’s going to be hard to hear but it’s important to the question of why this happened: more than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children… The shooter was obsessed with the idea of killing children."
He added that the shooter "expressed hate towards many groups, including the Jewish community and towards President Trump."
But officials are still working to establish a clear motive, Mr Thompson said.
Police chief Brian O'Hara said three shotgun shells were recovered at the scene, along with 116 rifle rounds and one handgun round that appeared to have malfunctioned as the killer attempted to use it before it became stuck in the chamber.
An officer ran into the church during the shooting, it has emerged, and a parishioner showed him where the shots were coming from.
"The parishioner later told me that it was the first time that he, the children and others there had any sense that they might be safe and survive," Mr O'Hara added.
He said additional lives were saved when members of the church learned the attacker intended to enter the building by barricading the doors on the side of the church.
"What's particularly heinous and cowardly about this is these children were slaughtered by a gunman who could not see them," O'Hara said.
He confirmed that the attacker had also previously attended mass at the Catholic church, adding: "So obviously there is a connection between the attacker and this particular parish."
Cops have so far been unable to speak to the killer’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, who is understood to have worked at the school.
There are three residences linked to the murderer, but investigators haven’t established where she was staying at the time of the shooting or who the killer was living with.
Court documents have revealed Westman's name was changed from Robert to Robin when the killer was 17.