Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday that his department is investigating whether drugs taken by transgender shooter Robin Westman during his transition may have contributed to his violent actions.
Kennedy said the department is launching broader studies into the potential contribution of such drugs, noting another recent school shooter, Audrey Hale, was also transgender. He did not specify what medications, if any, Westman or Hale had taken.
However, Kennedy highlighted concerns about Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly prescribed for depression. “Some of the SSRI drugs and some other psychiatric drugs might be contributing to violence,” he warned. “Many of them have black-box warnings that warn of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation. So we can’t exclude those as a culprit, and those are the kind of studies we are doing.”
He added that strict patient confidentiality rules have historically slowed such research but stressed that his department has the authority to investigate potential links between psychiatric medications and violent behavior.
“There was no time in the past when people would walk into a church or a classroom and start shooting people,” RFK Jr. said. “It’s not really happening in other countries, it’s happening here. And we need to look at all of the potential culprits that might be contributing to that.”
Westman, 23, who legally changed his name from Robert to Robin in 2020, reportedly struggled with suicidal thoughts for years and expressed regret over his transition. The attack shares several disturbing similarities with Audrey Hale’s 2023 mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. Hale, 28, also transgender, had been a former student at the Christian school she attacked, drew detailed maps, and left a manifesto.
Westman had attended Annunciation Catholic School and Church, where his mother had worked from 2016 until her retirement in 2021. Like Hale, Westman had no prior criminal record.
