Overview

• Two children were killed and 17 people were injured in the Aug. 27 shooting at a Catholic school church in Minneapolis.
• Authorities identified the suspect as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who was reported as transgender.
• Researchers reviewing Westman’s videos and writings cite weapons scrawled with names of past mass shooters, specific memes, and antisemitic terminology as hallmarks of a mass-shooter fandom.
• Specialists interviewed by USA TODAY say there is no evidence that gender identity motivated the attack, describing it instead as an example of so-called nihilistic violent extremism.
• Data from a leading mass-violence database show transgender people are not disproportionately responsible for such attacks, even as some politicians and commentators claim otherwise, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged the public not to villainize the transgender community.