Minneapolis School striker “Obsessed with the idea of ​​killing children”, officials say

Investigators say the attacker who opened fire on the students when they prayed at the Church in Minneapolis was “obsessed with the idea of ​​killing children.”

According to the head of the Minneapolis Brian O’Hari police, Robin Westman, who killed two children and suffered 18 people, had no specific motive.

The attacker “seemed to hate all of us,” said the chief on Thursday, adding: “Most of all, the shooter wanted to kill the children.”

The killed children were recognized as a family as Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper May, 10.

“Yesterday the coward decided to pick up the eight-year-old son Fletcher,” his father Jesse Merkel told reporters.

“We will never allow us to keep him, talk to him, play with him and watch him grow into a wonderful young man he was on his way to becoming,” he said.

“Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking and any sport that he was allowed to play.”

“Please remember the Fletcher for the man he was, not the act that ended his life,” he continued, gasping for tears.

“Give children extra hugs and kiss today. We love you, Fletcher. You will always be with us.”

Harper Harper Maji, Michael May and Jackie Flavin stated that their daughter “was a bright, joyful and deep-beloved 10-year-old girl whose laughter, kindness and spirit touched everyone who knew her.”

The family said that Harper’s little sister “was holding on to her older sister and mourned about the incredible loss.”

“We are broken in the family, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.”

They added that the family hoped that “her memory is fueled by action” to stop violence with weapons.

“No family should never survive this kind of pain …. The changes are possible, and it is necessary – so Harper’s story is not another in the long line of tragedies.”

Until now, officials have published some details about the origin of the suspect, but said she had previously attended the church school and had a mother who worked there.

It is estimated that the 23-year-old suspect approached the side of the Church, which also housed the school, and fired dozens of shots through the windows using three firearms. Police also found smoke at the scene.

Witnesses described how the children Kryvili when they escaped from the church, asking for help from strangers.

At a press conference on Thursday, acting Prosecutor General Minnesota Joseph Thompson, “the shooter expressed hatred for many groups, including the Jewish community and to President Trump.”

The attacker, who died at the site of a self -abrasion wound, left the note, said officials, but they added that the final motif could never be known.

“I will not negotiate the words of the attacker, repeating them, they are terrible and mean,” said Mr. Tompson.

Westman’s name was legally changed from Robert to Robin in 2020, and the judge wrote: “A small child is identified as a woman.” However, some federal officials and police call Westman a person when discussing the attack.

The main O’Hara told reporters that newsletters should stop using the killer’s name because “the purpose of the shooters was to receive glory.”

He added that she “, like many other mass shootings we saw in this country too often and around the world, had some disorder of the previous mass pictures.”

US officials have warned for years that mass shooting can lead to a copy’s killing because the killers are trying to become famous for their horrific crimes.

Several basic information organizations pursue a policy not to determine mass killers.

The Director of the FBI Kashli described the attack as “the act of domestic terrorism motivated by an ideology filled with hatred.”

A report on the X Passion said the attacker “left several anti -Catholic, anti -religious links” written on weapons and notes revealed by investigators.

“The subject has expressed hatred and violence against Jewish people, writing Israel should fall,” “Free Palestine”, and using the obvious language related to the Holocaust, “he wrote.

The killer also wrote a clear call for violence against President Trump in a firearms magazine. “

At his press conference, officials confirmed that the attacker had previously attended school. Her mother, Mary Grace Westman, had previously worked at school, and still did not respond to law enforcement attempts to contact her.

They also confirmed that three residences related to the attacker who was from a suburban mine -paid were a search of the police.

They said the church closed its doors before the mass service was most likely saving a lot of lives.

Officials added that the weapons used in the attack were legally purchased that the killer did not appear in any state list, and that the police do not know about the diagnoses of mental health and the treatment she receives.

Witnesses and relatives of the victims who talked to the BBC described painful scenes of violence.

Patrick Scallen, who lives near the church, said he saw three children running around the building – one of them with a girl wounded.

“She kept saying,” Please hold my hand, don’t leave me, “and I said I’m not going anywhere.”

Vincent Francoal, 11-year-old daughter Chloe was in the church when a shooting took place, said he tried not to panic after heard the news.

He called it “sick” that children in the United States are trained to prepare for mass shootings.

“We live in a country where we train children, what to do. And she did what she needed,” he said.

“That’s a sample. This is no longer an incident,” he said about school shots in the United States.

“I told my wife that every morning, when we throw children, we do not know if she would be safe.”

Mr. Francual, who is originally from France, said Chloe was afraid to return to school or church.

On the eve of the attack, several legislators, including the mayor of the Minneapolis, called on the state to ban weapons.

“There is no reason for someone to be able to beat 30 shots before they have to restart,” said Mayor Jacob Frey, also calling for ban on high-power-capacity magazines.

“We are not talking about your father’s hunting rifle. We are talking about weapons built to punch armor and kill people.”