Robin Westman, the shooter in the Minneapolis incident, targeted a mass at his former Catholic school after discovering details about the event online, as per a memo he created.
He indicated that he focused on Catholic schools and nearby churches due to his familiarity with the area.
“School schedules are publicly available online, so I need to go through it and look for events that look promising. Oooo! August 27th, it’s the whole school mass!” Westman noted in a July 25th entry in a disturbing handwritten diary he later shared on YouTube before the tragic incident.
“The front door will be unlocked today. I’ll be heading to Starbucks at 8:40. [Then] I walk to the church at 9:30 and arrive about three minutes late,” he wrote in an entry dated August 10th, detailing his shooting plans.
“I’ll walk the west side and try door 22 on my way to the South Doors. After the announcement, I’ll leave the main door and walk to the east side to my office,” he mentioned using a mix of Russian Cyrillic and English in his notes.
Westman expressed that he chose this target because he felt comfortable with it.
Recent Developments in Minneapolis Catholic School Shooting
“I went to that school, so I know the layout. I don’t think there’s much need to do scouting at the start of the school,” he wrote.
His diary reveals the extent of his planning for the attack on the Announcement Catholic school and church, even down to where he intended to park his car.
He added: “The announcement parking lot I wanted to use is a handicap spot, so if you park there it might be suspicious. It shouldn’t be a big deal at first.”
Westman also considered potential challenges he might face.
“In both cases, I went to church. No man under 55. I just encountered an elderly man and an older woman.”
“Even so, these boomers may be a challenge.”
