Pro-Trans Ex-Kentucky Lawmaker, Uncle of Catholic School Shooter Weighs In

The uncle of Minneapolis mass shooter Robin Westman said he wished his nephew had targeted him instead of the children killed during Wednesday’s attack at Annunciation Catholic School and Church, as reported by The New York Post.

Former Kentucky state representative Bob Heleringer, 74, confirmed that Westman, 23, was his nephew but said he “barely knew him.”

Former KY lawmaker is the uncle of Minnesota school shooter https://t.co/UPvnfisMmh

— Lexington Herald-Leader (@heraldleader) August 28, 2025

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Speaking to the Associated Press, Heleringer stated, “He was my nephew, and I wish he had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren. I barely knew him. They (Robin’s family) never lived in Louisville. They lived in Minnesota.”

“I wish he had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren,” former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer said. https://t.co/FP81ITyndm

— WHAS11 News (@WHAS11) August 27, 2025

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Heleringer represented Kentucky’s 33rd district from 1979 to 2002.

A Republican, he has spoken publicly in opposition to state bans on gender-affirming care for minors and previously criticized his own party in a 2023 Courier-Journal op-ed titled, “I am a Kentucky Republican calling out my party’s war against LGBTQ people.”

Westman, who identified as a transgender woman, opened fire during a back-to-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic School and Church in Minneapolis.

Authorities said the gunman killed two children, ages 8 and 10, and wounded 17 others, including 14 students and three parishioners in their 80s. All surviving victims are expected to recover.

Police reported that Westman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following the attack. A motive has not yet been determined.

Westman had a history with the parish, as his mother worked as a secretary at Annunciation until 2021.

While a student at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Westman authored a piece titled “But Not The End,” in which he reflected on dying with “regrets that my name not be known for something more,” according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The 23-year-old later graduated from Southwest High School in Minneapolis in 2021. In Annunciation’s 2017 yearbook, Westman quoted the French band Daft Punk, writing, “Work it. Make it. Do it. Makes us. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.”

Investigators revealed that before the attack, Westman had posted videos on YouTube containing a handwritten manifesto. The materials showed gun magazines marked with the words “kill Donald Trump” and “for the children.”

The Minneapolis Catholic school shooter was Robin Westman.

He was a biological male who identified as a transgender “woman.”

Written on his guns and magazines were things like “kill Trump now,” “6 million was not enough” (referring to the Holocaust), “for the children,” “I’m… pic.twitter.com/KGEauspsTQ

— Leftism (@LeftismForU) August 27, 2025

Other writings included anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans such as “Free Palestine,” “filthy Zionist Jews,” and “6 million wasn’t enough,” the latter a reference to Holocaust victims. Some of these messages were written in Cyrillic script.

Authorities confirmed that Westman fired into the church through stained glass windows during the service.

Law enforcement continues to investigate Westman’s background and writings as families of the victims and the community mourn the attack.

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