The investigation into the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis is intensifying — but one figure central to understanding the shooter’s background has gone silent. According to Fox News, the mother of gunman Robin “Robin” Westman, identified as Mary Grace Westman, has so far refused to cooperate with investigators. Instead, she has retained a high-profile criminal defense attorney.
Ryan Garry, the attorney now representing her, told Fox that his client is “completely distraught about the situation and has no culpability,” adding that she hired counsel simply to handle the influx of inquiries.
Yet her silence has raised eyebrows, especially given her documented role in her son’s early transgender identification. Court records show she applied for Robin’s legal name change in 2019, writing that the “minor identifies as female and wants her name to reflect the identification.”
At a Thursday news conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara admitted that despite dozens of interviews with relatives, friends, and witnesses, investigators had “not been successful in talking to the shooter’s mother.” Efforts to do so are ongoing.
Investigators also confirmed that Robin Westman’s father has been contacted, though it remains unclear where the 23-year-old was living in the days leading up to the massacre. Three different addresses are associated with him.
What is certain is the deep connection between the shooter and the parish he targeted. Westman had once attended the church’s school, and his mother had previously worked for the parish. That history is now under the microscope as authorities seek to understand how and why Westman returned to the church not as a worshipper, but as a killer.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Westman opened fire with multiple weapons, blasting through stained glass and pew windows as parishioners and children scrambled for safety. Two children were killed, and 18 more people — including 15 children — were injured before Westman turned the gun on himself.
Authorities have since recovered a manifesto, which the shooter had timed for release on YouTube just before the attack. FBI Director Kash Patel described the writings as evidence of domestic terrorism driven by “a hate-filled ideology.”
The manifesto, along with writings scrawled on Westman’s firearms, contained anti-Catholic messages, explicit antisemitic statements, Holocaust references, and declarations like “Israel must fall” and “Free Palestine.”
