Minneapolis church shooting: Police recover cache of weapons; search warrants reveal arsenal of guns

Investigators in Minneapolis, US, have gathered extensive evidence from the mass shooting at a Catholic school and church on Wednesday, according to search warrants. The recovered items include a cache of weapons and a device that may have been a smoke bomb.

The gunman, identified as transgender shooter Robin Westman, killed two children and injured 18 parishioners. According to NBC News, search warrants show Westman was carrying a Taurus semiautomatic pistol, a Mossberg pump-action shotgun, and a Magpul semiautomatic rifle.


In total, police collected 158 personal items linked to Westman, including hard drives, from multiple locations. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the firearms were purchased recently through legal means and that Westman had no documented history of mental illness, the New York Post reported.

At the scene, police recovered more than 116 shell casings, confirming that Westman fired into the church where middle school students had gathered. A wooden board with a gas container and a metal pull pin, possibly meant to function as a smoke bomb, was also seized.

Other items recovered included a knife, green fingerless gloves, black mechanic gloves, headphones, and a gray zip-up sweatshirt.

Authorities said Westman arrived at the church in a commercial van registered to his father, James Westman. A rifle case was recovered from the van, which had been left parked behind the church with one rear door open.

From the father’s home in nearby Richfield, investigators seized a tactical vest, two external media storage devices, an iPhone, a USB drive, and more than 150 other pieces of evidence.

The shooting killed Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, who were in the pews of Annunciation Church just before 8:30 am (local time), when gunfire came through the stained-glass windows. Several others were wounded.