Classmate wishes she spoke up sooner about Minneapolis church shooter

A woman who identified herself as a former grade school classmate of the Minneapolis church shooter said that she knew something wasn’t right with him. 

Josefina Sanchez made the admission to KSTP on Wednesday after a 23-year-old born with the name Robert Westman, who later identified as Robin Westman, opened fire at a Mass being held at the Annunciation Catholic Church, which was attended by students from the attached school. The attack left two children dead and 17 others injured, 14 of whom were children. 

“Something I knew was off, but I was a kid, how would I know like what to do?” Sanchez told KSTP, which reported that she was a seventh-grade classmate of Westman. 

“When you see something erratic, it doesn’t leave your mind so… [Westman] would put up his hand and say like, ‘praise Hitler,’” Sanchez added. 

WHO IS ROBIN WESTMAN, SUSPECT IN ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS? 

Ann Stovner kneels by a makeshift memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday’s school shooting, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis.  (AP/Abbie Parr)

A disturbing video posted by a person using the same name as the shooter was deleted from YouTube after the shooting, showing handwritten pages of a notebook, bullets, weapons with messages painted on them and commentary from whoever filmed them.  

The authenticity of the clip has not been confirmed by authorities. 

GUNS USED BY MINNEAPOLIS CHURCH SCHOOL SHOOTER ROBIN WESTMAN WERE PURCHASED LEGALLY, POLICE SAY 

Screenshots from a YouTube video posted by Westman, 23, show the suspect police identified as the gunman in the Aug. 27, 2025, Minneapolis church school shooting. (Obtained by Fox News)

“I think it’s actually a spiritual battle,” Sanchez said to KSTP in reference to the video. “I don’t think it’s this world, it’s demonic, I’m sorry, but it is. I think we need Jesus. [Westman] needed him.” 

“I wish I could have said something sooner, but I was little, how do I know?” she also said. 

Police said Wednesday that Westman had no prior criminal record and all the weapons used in the mass shooting were “lawfully purchased.” 

Police and medical teams work the scene after a shooting at Annunciation Church, which is also home to an elementary school, in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Reuters/Ben Brewer)

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“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. 

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.