Notebook analysis reveals signs of extensive planning by Minneapolis suspectpublished at 12:33 British Summer Time
Olga Robinson
BBC Verify assistant editor
Image source, ReutersI’ve been deciphering more from the notebooks of the suspected Minneapolis shooter, showing for the first time evidence of extensive planning done by Robin Westman before the shooting and the suspect’s relationship with the Annunciation school.
One of the notes, largely written in Cyrillic letters, starts by saying that “things are moving swiftly into place” and that Westman is “feeling good about Annunciation” because it is a “good combo of easy attack for me and devastating tragedy”.
The suspect lists a series of options for the attack, including during break time at a school or a Christmas concert at a church.
If the attack is timed right the shooting can “catch a big assembly on the first day of school” but Westman admits it might be too risky because people may disperse quickly.
The suspect concludes that reconnaissance is needed to see how many people are at the school on a normal day which could be done by pretending to fix their car and then checking to “make sure this place is worth attacking.”
Later on, Westman talks about driving past Annunciation one day to check how many children are there but being unable to see clearly.
The notebook goes into detail about Monday 25 August being the first day of school and Westman wonders if any staff would remember them.
The suspect then writes about how she is planning to shoot without aiming because unlike “the police and good guys”, Westman can fire indiscriminately and just “have fun”.
These notes are dated to late July, indicating that Westman had been preparing for this attack for more than a month.
