Two children dead, 17 people injured in shooting at Minnesota Catholic school

A parent hugs her son during a shooting at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis. Picture: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP

A gunman opened fire with a rifle on Wednesday through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis and struck some of the nearly 200 children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 17 people in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible”.

Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman approached the side of the church and shot dozens of rounds through the windows towards the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School just before 8.30am local time, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference. He said the gunman then died by suicide.

The children who died were aged eight and 10. Fourteen other children and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the chief said.

On Wednesday evening, hundreds prayed, wiped away tears and held each other during a packed vigil at a nearby school’s gym where Governor Tim Walz and Senator Amy Klobuchar, along with Catholic clergy, joined the mourners.

Parents await news of their children in Minneapolis (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

Archbishop Bernard Hebda talked about the inscription at the front of the Annunciation Church that reads: “House of God and the gate of heaven.”

“How is it that such a terrible tragedy could take place in a place that’s the house of God and the gate of heaven?” he asked. “It’s unthinkable.”

Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told reporters he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was lying on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.

“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s okay,” the 10-year-old said, adding that he was praying for the others who were taken to hospital.

His grandfather, Michael Simpson, said the violence during Mass on the third day of school left him wondering whether God was watching over.

“I don’t know where He is,” Mr Simpson said.

Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church’s school in Minneapolis (Abbie Parr/AP)

FBI director Kash Patel said on X that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.

Mr O’Hara said police had not yet found any relationship between the gunman and the church, nor determined a motive for the bloodshed. The chief said, however, that investigators were examining a social media post that appeared to show the gunman at the scene.

“The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” said Mr O’Hara, who gave the wounded youngsters’ ages as six to 15. He said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors, and that authorities found a smoke bomb at the scene.

On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the alleged gunman released at least two videos before the channel was taken down by site administrators on Wednesday.

In one, the alleged gunman shows a cache of weapons and ammunition, some with such phrases as “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” written on them.

A second video shows the alleged gunman pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife. It was unclear when that video was uploaded to the channel.

Westman’s uncle, former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer, said he did not know the accused gunman well and was confounded by the “unspeakable tragedy”.

The police chief said Westman did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone.

Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decried hatred being directed at “our transgender community”.

Westman’s gender identity was not clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification”.

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey sits on the steps of the Annunciation Church’s school in Minneapolis (Abbie Parr/AP)

The police chief said officers immediately responded to reports of the shooting, entered the church, rendered first aid and rescued some of the children hiding throughout the building.

The mayor and Annunciation’s principal said teachers and children, too, responded heroically.

“Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children,” said the principal Matt DeBoer.

Danielle Gunter, the mother of an eighth-grade boy who was shot, in a statement said her son told her a Minneapolis police officer “really helped him” by giving aid and a hug before her son got into an ambulance.

Amid a heavy uniformed law enforcement presence later on Wednesday morning, children in dark green uniforms trickled out of the school with adults, giving lingering hugs and wiping away tears.

Mr Walz lamented that children just starting the school year “were met with evil and horror and death”. He and President Donald Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on state and federal buildings, respectively, and the White House said the two men spoke.

The governor was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last year’s election against Mr Trump’s running mate, now Vice President JD Vance.

From the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences. The Chicago-born Leo, history’s first American pope, said he was praying for relatives of the dead.