Gun Shop Footage Shows Minneapolis Church Shooter Calm Days Before Tragedy

Surveillance footage from a St. Louis Park gun store shows Robin Westman — the individual behind last week’s tragic mass shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis — calmly browsing firearms and conversing with staff just days before the attack that left two children dead and more than a dozen others injured.

The video, obtained by KSTP, was captured on Saturday, August 23, at Frontiersman Sports, where Westman can be seen entering the store around 12:30 p.m. He was wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase “a place for well-being” on the back and had his hair tied in a ponytail secured with a scrunchie. Store staff described Westman’s demeanor as “jovial” and “friendly,” noting that nothing in his behavior raised concern.

“What could I have done? What could I have caught? There was nothing,” said store owner Kory Krause, who decided to release the footage in an effort to provide context and insight into the lead-up to the tragedy.

“Should we have discriminated against him because of a weird T-shirt and a ponytail? No. We get lots of long-haired guys with a ponytail.”

Krause confirmed that Westman did not purchase any firearms or ammunition from the store that were used in the attack. Investigators have said the weapons used — a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol — were sourced elsewhere, though the details remain under investigation.

The footage, while showing nothing outwardly suspicious, now serves as a chilling prelude to one of the most horrifying acts of violence in the state in recent years. Days after his visit to the store, Westman carried out a mass shooting during a back-to-school Mass at Annunciation Church, where he opened fire from outside the building after being unable to access the locked doors.

Westman reportedly fired 116 rifle rounds and multiple shotgun blasts through the church’s stained-glass windows, targeting congregants during the annual service. The attack claimed the lives of an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old and wounded 16 other children, as well as three parishioners in their 80s. Westman died by suicide at the scene.