We’re back to an old debate regarding the tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic School on August 27 in Minneapolis. How do we keep firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people, who commit the lion’s share of mass shootings?
Before there had been funerals for the two schoolchildren murdered by shooter Robert “Robin” Westman, Democrats had been pounding the gun control nonsense, even turning prayer vigils into political rallies. It’s unseemly and gross. No doubt red flag laws are going to pop up, but Minnesota already has those, and it didn’t stop this shooting because you can’t say anything bad about transgender people in the land of ‘happy hands’, Tim Walz. Police visited the Westman home twice, but no action was taken. And we can see why Mary Westman isn’t cooperating with police, hiring a defense attorney (via NBC News):
Minnesota has red flag laws…. But because the killer’s family affirmed his mental illness, there was nothing a gun shop could do.
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) August 29, 2025
So unless you’re prepared to make transgenderism a diagnosed mental illness, none of that will matter. https://t.co/Ae7AxPaHRA
The heavily redacted police report NBC News obtained from the police department in Eagan, Minnesota, is dated Jan. 26, 2018, and it includes a two-word description explaining why an officer was dispatched to that address: mental health.
It also includes a brief synopsis that reads “assisted Mendota Heights with a check welfare of a juvenile.” Mendota Heights is another Twin Cities suburb.
The name of that juvenile and what exactly prompted police to be summoned to the three-bedroom home on Crane Creek Lane were blacked out in the report.
Two years before the mental health call, police responded to a report of a “criminal offense” at the residence, according to a police report. But beyond noting that the case was closed, the report blacks out all the details describing the event.
[…]
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Thursday that authorities do not have information indicating that Westman suffered from mental illness and that, other than a traffic ticket, she did not have a police record.
“There is nothing in the investigation so far that would lead us to believe that anything was missed,” O’Hara said.
[…]
Westman was 11 when her mother and her father, James Westman, divorced in 2013. At the time, she and her brother and sister lived with their parents in Hastings, another Twin Cities suburb.
Police were called to that residence at least four times from 2003 to 2016, including once for a welfare check for an adult female, a sibling, who was threatening suicide in 2014. Also in 2014, police responded to a report of vandalism at the home. Officers saw several offensive words and pictures written on windows of the garage and the father’s car.
Another call in 2010 related to a “juvenile problem” with a 17-year-old daughter who was “out of control.” But nothing in the records indicates that those incidents involved the shooter.
Before we say anything definitive, let the police do their jobs. Still, I fear we’re looking at another Nikolas Cruz situation, where we might learn there were multiple red flags regarding Westman’s behavior, but nothing was done. We’ll see. If nothing could be done and Westman truly kept this evil bottled up inside, then there was nothing that could’ve been done. Minnesota has enough laws on the books to prevent these tragedies. It’s all about how we enforce them.
Westman shot through the stained glass at Annunciation, killing two children and wounding another 17 people, 14 of whom were students. The attack occurred during a mass commemorating the start of the new school year.
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