MINNEAPOLIS – A gunman opened fire on schoolchildren attending a morning Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 17 other people before dying by suicide, authorities said.
The children killed were an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old. The shooting occurred at Annunciation Catholic school, a private elementary school in a residential area of southeast Minneapolis, just two days after the new school year began.
According to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, the assailant, identified as Robin Westman, 23, fired through the school’s chapel windows at students who were sitting in pews. The chief described the attack as an “incomprehensible” act of “cruelty and cowardice.”
The shooter was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol. O’Hara noted that some of the chapel doors had been barricaded from the outside with planks. Officials said Westman had no extensive criminal history.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the case is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics. Public records indicate that Westman’s mother had previously worked as an administrative assistant at Annunciation Church.
Local hospitals confirmed they were treating 15 children and two adults, with many suffering from gunshot wounds. Officials also found a smoke bomb at the scene and were searching a vehicle in the parking lot. Law enforcement is also investigating multiple online videos to determine if they were posted by the shooter.
The shooting brings the number of school shootings in the U.S. this year to more than 140, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, visibly angry at a news conference, urged for action beyond “thoughts and prayers,” saying, “These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation, and the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring the events. The shooting does not appear to be related to three other shootings that occurred in the city since yesterday, which left three people dead and seven wounded.
The tragedy comes after a separate incident of political violence in Minnesota in June, where a gunman allegedly assassinated a state politician and her husband. Despite a state law requiring background checks for all gun sales, Minnesota’s gun death rate is below the national average, according to the gun violence prevention group Everytown for Gun Safety.
