Annunciation Catholic School Shooting
Minneapolis high school shooting suspect was motivated by numerous violent extremist and targeted violence influences.
On August 27, 2025, an individual carried out a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN resulting in 2 dead and 17 injured. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Media reporting has identified the shooter as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old transgender individual.
ICDE analysis of the attacker’s digital footprint and targeted violence manifesto highlighted the following:
Westman should be considered a violent actor heavily motivated by militant accelerationism mass shooter culture and potentially connected to nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) ecosystems online, specifically Skibidi Farms.
A YouTube account that appears to be associated with Westman had two relevant videos detailing a targeted violence manifesto written in Cyrillic and a walk through of Westman’s weaponry covered in references in white lettering–the same as the Christchurch and Buffalo terrorists’ weapons.
ICDE identified numerous indicators associated with militant accelerationism Saints, NVE, mass shooter fixation, antinatalism and efilism, and other forms of targeted violence such as glorification of Luigi Mangione and Guy Bartkus.
There is no single or clear ideological motivation for Westman.
A dominating feature across Westman’s extremist materials was the use of Cyrillic script.
Westman represents a growing trend within targeted violence wherein individuals attack an apparent symbolic target (though likely driven more by personal grievance with the target) and have little to no specific ideological motivation for the attack nor the target.
