Posted on X by Bill Melugin of Fox News,
Minneapolis PD says they “have not been successful” in speaking with the mass shooter’s mother and they aren’t commenting on if they were able to make contact with his father.
Melugin is referring to Robin (formerly Robert) Westman, the 23-year-old who perpetrated the horrific mass shooting at a Catholic school/church earlier this week.
Later, Melugin reposted this item from Fox News,
Fox News has learned the mother of the Minneapolis school shooter, Mary Westman, has retained a criminal defense attorney. “She is completely distraught about the situation and has no culpability but is seeking an attorney to deal with calls like this.”
Fox News also reports,
Guns used by Minneapolis church school shooter Robin Westman were purchased legally, police say: Robin Westman used three lawfully purchased weapons to kill two students and injure 17 others.
This being the case, naturally, local politicians are calling for more gun control. From the local affiliate CBS-4,
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, others call for gun control after Annunciation shooting.
Banning a tool won’t stop future tragedies. Figuring why they happen might. Frey says,
“We need a statewide and a federal ban on assault weapons.”
Frey led the call for the weapons ban and a ban on high-capacity magazines.
“So the next go-around, there is not another city two months from now that is saying the same damn thing. Let’s stop this from happening,” Frey said.
No. The next go-around, it will be a bomb, or poison or some other means to the same end.
One of my biggest complaints of modern life is the refusal to investigate and answer the questiion, “Why?”
To Frey’s point, one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of recent years was the bombing in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, on Christmas Day 2020. No guns were involved, but no meaningful explanation was ever offered.
From the New York Times,
Motive Sought in Minneapolis School Shooting That Killed 2 Children and Injured 17.
I predict that none will be found, because no one is really looking. Consider just three incidents:
- October 1, 2017–Las Vegas, Nevada, Stephen Paddock
- July 14, 2023–Fargo, North Dakota, Mohamed Baraket
- July 13, 2024–Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas Crooks
All three events were thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities. The who, what, when, where, and how are fully documented. But no “why” is known for these or many other similar events.
And they will keep happening, by one means or another.
