On the morning of Aug. 27, 2025, 23-year-old Robin Westman, a former student of The Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, attacked the school’s students and worshippers.
For many, church is a safe space where families gather and children learn the values of faith and community. But on one devastating morning, that sense of safety and security was ripped away in an instant.
Witnesses say Westman barricaded the doors with wooden 2-by-4s, trapping the victims inside before firing through the church’s stained-glass windows. Surveillance footage shows Westman buying a revolver just days before the attack, but strangely, that was not the weapon he chose to use during the attack. He carried a rifle, shotgun and handgun inside the church, tools of destruction in a place meant for prayer. Over 20 people were injured, and two lives were lost before Westman ended his own life at the scene using one of the three weapons he brought.
In a nation where church shootings are rare, this event forces us to take action and face the unbearable reality that places of worship aren’t entirely safe anymore.
10-year-old Harper Moyski and eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel were killed. 11-year-old Genevieve Bisek was shot in the neck and suffered a severe concussion and 13-year-old Endre Gunter was struck in the stomach while praying with his classmates. In total, 21 people were injured in the attack, including 18 children and three elderly parishioners, leaving a lasting impact on the entire community.
Investigators later uncovered multiple disturbing online videos in which Westman expressed violent fantasies and spread hatred toward various groups. These groups included antisemitic and anti-Catholic messages. In some videos, he even referred to past mass shootings such as the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, showing how deeply he had thought out this act of violence.
What makes this attack so cruel is not just the hostile act but the place where it occurred. Church is supposed to be God’s house, a safe space where the community gathers to worship. To have violence invade the Mass is a desecration. Catholic school shootings may be rare, but that does not make them any less terrifying. If anything, their rarity makes this tragedy even more jarring.
This tragedy should not be dismissed as an ordinary incident. It should serve as both a wake-up call and a demand for change. Violence is never the answer and has no place in God’s house, and we cannot let the memory of the Annunciation Catholic Church fade without getting justice and without making a change. As of 2025, shootings have been too normalized in the United States, and we need to do something to stop gun violence in the United States.
