A former classmate said Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman once horrified peers with Nazi salutes and “demonic” behavior in middle school.
A former classmate of Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman has recalled disturbing behavior from their time together in middle school, saying his actions still haunt her.
Josefina Sanchez, who briefly befriended Westman in seventh grade at a St. Paul school, told KTSP that he would often disturb classmates by mimicking Nazi salutes and saying, “praise Hitler.” Fighting back tears, she described him as “erratic” and “off,” adding, “It’s demonic, I’m sorry, it is.”
Sanchez said she sometimes wonders if she could have raised the alarm. “Something I knew was off, but I was a kid. How would I know, like, what to do in the seventh grade?” she asked.
Westman killed two children and wounded 17 others on Wednesday when he opened fire at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis.
Sanchez also revealed that Westman was known to write in cryptic codes resembling the symbols in his manifesto and disturbing online writings.