What motivated the Annunciation shooter? We may never know

It has become a hauntingly routine paradox in the aftermath of horrific shootings An assailant leaves piles of evidence that investigators scrutinize But law enforcement leaders are often left with more questions than answers as they seek to determine a motive Officers in Minneapolis were bracing for that outcome as they examined the writings and social media posts of the person they say opened fire through the window of a church packed with schoolchildren Wednesday killing two Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara L listens as acting U S Attorney Joseph Thompson R speaks during a law enforcement briefing following a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School on August in Minneapolis Minnesota According to Minneapolis Police a gunman fired through the windows of the Annunciation Church at worshippers sitting in pews during a Catholic school Mass killing two children and injuring at least others The gunman reportedly died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Photo by Stephen Maturen Getty Images We will follow all of the evidence to its logical conclusion Brian O Hara the Minneapolis police chief communicated reporters Thursday This may not ultimately provide the answers that our residents is looking for Robin Westman carried out the attack and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound bureaucrats revealed The attacker left behind a lengthy suicide note journal entries and scribbling on the weapons used in the ambush at the Church of the Annunciation which is affiliated with an adjacent Catholic school The content includes disparaging messages about President Donald Trump Christians Black people Hispanic people Jews and Israel The shooter expressed hate toward every group imaginable declared Joseph Thompson the acting U S attorney in Minnesota The shooter s heart was full of hate The sprawling nature of the assailant s rantings and grievances led cabinet agents and other observers to zero in on single pieces of information straightaway after the attack which also injured children and three adult parishioners FBI Director Kash Patel characterized the matter as a hate crime targeting Catholics Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem drew attention to a message threatening violence toward the president and to the shooter s gender identity According to court records when Westman was she filed a petition to legally change her name to Robin noting that she identified as female Social media was filled with rampant speculation about the shooter s gender identity and whether the attacker s newest work at a cannabis dispensary and previous attendance at the school adjacent to the church had factored into a motive But the only clear finding so far law enforcement agents mentioned was that the attacker had come to idolize mass shooters particularly those who have killed children A dark pattern Jillian Peterson a professor of criminology at Hamline University in St Paul Minnesota who studies gun violence commented the facts that have emerged so far fit a pattern Shooters who target children in these attacks tend to be young isolated depressed and angry individuals who become obsessed with previous slayings that have generated extensive news coverage It s sort of this self-hatred that turns outward and then you have this really angry person who plans to go out in a blaze of glory Peterson stated As communities process the shock and grief of these shootings she added there is often a natural desire to make sense of the attacker s state of mind and intent We want to be able to say Oh this person was psychotic this person was racist this person was homophobic and just put a label on it Peterson reported In various cases the motive is consistently the same to kill as numerous people as workable and generate splashy headlines In an era of diminishing trust in executive institutions and the media conspiracy theories about high-profile crimes can get crucial traction in the absence of a conclusive motive The teenager who fatally shot children and two teachers in Uvalde Texas had behaved in alarming means before the tragedy But to this day the gunman s motivations remain unclear After a former apprentice opened fire at a Christian school in Nashville Tennessee in killing three children and three adults conservative commentators were convinced that the fact that the assailant had identified as transgender played a role in the crime But personnel have not been able to draw a clear link instead emphasizing the assailant s desire for infamy and fixation on other mass shootings Flowers and candles are placed outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday Dec in Madison Wis following a shooting on Monday AP Photo Nam Y Huh After a -year-old girl killed two people and wounded six at a Christian school in Wisconsin late last year officials commented she had become obsessed with previous school shootings But what motivated the teenager who died during the attack was never established No clear answers When shooters are taken into custody and agree to talk about their crimes their motives can be even murkier Early reports from agents about the Minnesota man who prosecutors say opened fire on two state legislators in June appeared to indicate that the suspect was motivated by anti-abortion views But later the suspect who is facing trial for murder and other crimes provided a set of confounding explanations In a letter to the FBI he called the attack part of a dark plot involving Gov Tim Walz of Minnesota and competition for the state s U S Senate seats More in the last few days he explained reporters the crime had to do with his theories about COVID- vaccines Mary Ellen O Toole a retired FBI agent who spent years assembling profiles of infamous criminals explained that sometimes attackers themselves seem unable to make sense of their actions When the offender survives and you go in and talk to them and say What were your motives they oftentimes cannot articulate what they were noted O Toole a forensic sciences professor at George Mason University Understanding signs While the question of motive certainly matters particularly if a defendant goes on trial a more pressing one is how to identify and respond to liability factors O Toole and Peterson revealed these types of shooters often are consumed with rage in a way that becomes apparent to loved ones and acquaintances Men between the ages of and appear to be particularly susceptible to becoming fixated with mass carnage O Toole explained In the months ahead O Toole mentioned federal investigators will strive to assemble a detailed portrait of the Minneapolis church shooter Their main goal will not be to understand precisely what motivated the attacker but rather the evolution of the shooter s radicalization and any warning signs that may have gone unheeded They want to be able to use this information to prevent the next one she announced I can tell you there are already people that are considering carrying out a mass shooting based on what they ve seen in Minneapolis People arrive before mass at Annunciation Church and School on Aug in Minneapolis Minnesota The church amenity is the first to occur since a mass shooting took place there earlier this week According to Minneapolis Police a gunman fired through the windows of the Annunciation Church at worshippers sitting in pews during a Catholic school Mass killing two children and injuring at least others The gunman reportedly died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Photo by Stephen Maturen Getty Images Echoes of Aurora shooting The questions that grieving parents and shell-shocked leaders in Minnesota began grappling with last week are painfully familiar to those who lost loved ones in the attack at a movie theater in Aurora Colo which killed people The prosecutor who secured a conviction and life sentence in that gunman s trial argued that he had a wanton hatred of humanity The assailant s defense lawyers noted he was mentally ill and delusional People parsed the Aurora assailant s notebook entries and social media photos for clues Even ourselves we were like Why would anybody do this stated Sandy Phillips whose daughter Jessi Redfield Ghawi a budding sports reporter was killed in the shooting But after learning how easily the gunman had obtained the weapons and ammunition he used in the attack Phillips stated the motive ceased to matter Related Articles Putting paws on the ground comfort dogs help heal at Annunciation Church A future filled with hope Minneapolis population unites to process the tragedy Loons fans send message End gun violence after mass shooting in Minneapolis Federal funding to identify threats cut Handmade cards from classmates comfort a girl wounded in Minneapolis church shooting aunt says It doesn t matter she disclosed We want an easy answer This guy was crazy or this was a white nationalist or this guy was trans Who cares The fact is we re not doing what requirements to be done as a society to stop the killing Phillips who has called for tougher gun regulations and co-founded a group that works with casualties of shootings and their families stated she was frustrated to see news coverage of the Minneapolis church shooting again focused on trying to parse the shooter s motive The answer to the why is Phillips revealed because he could