By Hannah Nightingale – The Postmillennial
Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Minnesota Catholic school is the latest on a startling list of mass shootings carried out by transgender individuals in recent years. There has been an uptick in mass shooters and killers who are trans over the past few years.
Robert “Robin” Westman, the suspect who has been identified as the shooter in the killings, identified as transgender. Westman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.
On Wednesday morning, two children, ages eight and 10, were killed and 17 other people, including 14 children, were injured after Westman opened fire outside the Annunciation Catholic Church and school. Students had been inside the church for the first mass of the year.
As a minor, Westman changed his name from Robert to Robin, with the form stating that Westman “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.” In his manifesto, Westman expressed regret: “I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself.”
Nashville, Tennessee, Audrey “Aiden” Hale, 2023
In March 2023, Audrey “Aiden” Hale entered the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three young students and three staff members before police shot Hale dead. Pages of writings released in the wake of the shooting detailed Hale discussing her “imaginary penis” and needing to see a “trans doctor.” She wrote, “This female gender role makes me want to not exist.” Another entry stated, “My penis exists in my head. I swear to god I’m male.” Yet another section stated, “I finally found the answer—that changing one’s gender is possible.”
Colorado Springs, Colorado, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 2022
On November 19, 2022, five people were killed and 40 others injured after Anderson Lee Aldrich opened fire in Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub. He was sentenced to life in prison in June 2023. Aldrich identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Aldrich was stopped by patrons at the nightclub.
Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Alec McKinney, 2019
On May 7, 2019, one student was killed and eight others injured after a shooting took place at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, located just outside of Denver. In July 2020, trans-identified female teen Alec McKinney was sentenced to life in prison plus 38 years for the teen’s role in the shooting. Co-defendant Devon Erickson was sentenced in September 2021 to life in prison.
18-year-old Kendrick Castillo was killed in the shooting after he charged one of the shooters. McKinney admitted to plotting the shooting as revenge for bullying. Before storming the school, McKinney and Erickson took cocaine and stole three handguns and a rifle from Erickson’s parents.
Aberdeen, Maryland, Scnochia Moseley, 2018
On September 20, 2018, 26-year-old Snochia Moseley fatally shot three people and injured three others at a Rite Aid warehouse in Aberdeen, Maryland. Friends told the Baltimore Sun at the time that messages sent by Moseley in December 2016 showed the temporary worker identifying as a transgender man and discussing beginning hormone treatment.
Survivors of the shooting said that Moseley had come into work that day in a bad mood and “wanting to pick a fight.”