Following a tragic incident in Minneapolis, a former teacher has shared their thoughts on social media regarding the suspect involved.
The shooting took place during Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday, August 27, resulting in multiple casualties.
Authorities confirmed the deaths of 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel. Additionally, 18 others were injured, including 15 children and three parishioners in their 80s.
Police identified 23-year-old Robin Westman as the shooter. After the attack, Westman reportedly took their own life.
Kash Patel, director of the FBI, stated that the agency is considering the incident an “act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.”
In what appeared to be a manifesto, Westman detailed their mental struggles, including issues with gender identity.
As the investigation into the motives continues, those who knew Westman have started speaking out, such as a former art teacher.
The teacher, Sarah Reely, remembers Westman from her class at an all-boys prep school in Minnesota in 2017. She observed signs of self-harm on Westman’s arm and reported it at the time.
Reely wrote on Facebook: “Self harm is either a cry for help, an indication of self hate, or both. But it’s always a sign something is wrong.”
She characterized Westman as a ‘kid who needed help’ and noted that while they were ‘definitely odd, really into furries and odd artwork, and said some odd things’, they ‘weren’t violent towards others to my knowledge’. She added, “Being odd isn’t a red flag — I was an odd kid myself and have always had a heart for the odd kids.”
Westman eventually changed schools, according to NBC News, and Reely mentioned she often wondered about their well-being.
In her post, Reely chose not to disclose the name of the school to maintain its privacy.
She emphasized her intention was not to ‘build sympathy for a murderer or place blame on any one person or entity for failing to stop this’.
“I am posting this to remind people that it’s a snowball effect of multiple system failures at a national level, that every murderer was once a kid in someone’s classroom who needed help, and that this issue is so much deeper and more complicated than we want to admit,” Reely stated.
She also addressed the political reactions to the shooting and advocated for enhanced mental health support for youth, saying: “We currently live in a country oversaturated with guns, with firearms ingrained deeply into our culture.”
“We can work to create buy-in for gun law reforms, but until then, we need to operate within the country we actually live in and not the country we wish we lived in.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.