The mother of Robin Westman, the 23-year-old who opened fire on a Minneapolis Catholic school congregation during Mass, killing two young children and injuring eighteen others, is reportedly refusing to cooperate with police and has retained a criminal defence attorney as investigators continue their search for answers in the wake of the attack.
Authorities revealed on Thursday that Mary Grace Westman, a former employee of Annunciation Catholic School, has not been in contact with police since the deadly shooting and has failed to respond to multiple outreach attempts by investigators.
“We have not been successful in talking to the shooter’s mother,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed at a press conference. He provided no further detail on the nature of the communication breakdown, but noted that the department had executed four search warrants on Wednesday and had recovered hundreds of pieces of potential evidence, including digital devices.
The shooter, Robin Westman, who previously attended Annunciation Catholic School and lived within walking distance of the site, was armed when they opened fire during a back-to-school Mass being held at Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday morning. The shooting killed two children—10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel—and injured fifteen other students, along with three elderly adults. The gunman died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.