Authorities looking for motive of attacker who killed children in Minneapolis

People gather at a vigil at Lynnhurst Park after a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis (Bruce Kluckhohn/AP)

Investigators are examining the videos, writings and movements of the attacker who fired through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people, for connections to the church and its school to understand the motivation for the attack.

Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds on Wednesday morning towards the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said.

The attacker then died by suicide, he said.

Tim and Katharine Barr kneel and pray at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday’s school shooting in Minneapolis (Abbie Parr/AP)

The children who died were eight and 10.

Fourteen other children and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the chief said.

Just hours after the shooting, hundreds crowded inside a nearby school’s gym on Wednesday night, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Minnesota governor Tim Walz and clergy members.

Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder – and while hundreds more waited outside – Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the students trying to shield their classmates as the gunfire erupted.

“In the midst of that there was courage, there was bravery, but most especially there was love,” he said at the Academy of Holy Angels, about two miles south of the shooting, in the suburb of Richfield.

Rev Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said they were almost to the end of the responsorial psalm, which spoke about light in the darkness.

That is when he heard someone shout, “Down, down, everybody down,” and the gunshots started.

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.

Susan Saly, right, and Meagan Pierlouissi place flowers at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday’s school shooting in Minneapolis (Abbie Parr/AP)

His friend was hit, he said.

“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” the 10-year-old said.

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.

Westman’s mother had worked at the church for five years, retiring in 2021, according to a church Facebook post that year.

It is not clear if Robin Westman ever attended the church or had been enrolled at the school.

Mr O’Hara said police had not determined a motive for the bloodshed.

The chief said, however, that investigators were examining a social media post that appeared to show the attacker at the scene.

Mr O’Hara, who gave the wounded youngsters’ ages as six to 15, said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors and that authorities found a smoke bomb at the scene.

Hally Marshall walks after praying at a memorial at Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday’s school shooting in Minneapolis (Abbie Parr/AP)

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

In one, the alleged attacker 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 attacker pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife.

In one video, the alleged attacker mentioned travelling to the nation’s largest gun show in Las Vegas and meeting Texas congressional candidate and gun rights activist Brandon Herrera, who has amassed a large following on YouTube as The AK Guy.

“I meet thousands of people every year at SHOT Show in Las Vegas in meet-and-greets and such, but I don’t remember this individual at all, nor does anyone I was there with,” Mr Herrera said in a post on X, adding he was “sickened and angry” about the violence against the children.

“That being said, I’m happy to answer any questions from Law Enforcement if it would be helpful.”

Westman’s uncle, former Kentucky state legislator Bob Heleringer, said he did not know the accused attacker 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.

People gather at a vigil at Lynnhurst Park after a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis (Bruce Kluckhohn/AP)

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”.

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

Annunciation’s principal Matt DeBoer said teachers and children, too, responded heroically.

“Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children,” he said.

Vincent Francoual said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived the shooting by running downstairs to hide in a room with a table pressed against the door.

But he is still not sure exactly how she escaped because she is struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatising scene.

A man walks past the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis (Abbie Parr/AP)

“She told us today that she thought she was going to die,” he said.

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-mast 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, a Republican.

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.

Monday had been the first day of the school year at Annunciation, a 102-year-old school in a leafy residential and commercial neighbourhood about five miles south of central Minneapolis.

Karin Cebulla, who said she had worked as a learning specialist at Annunciation and sent her two now-college-aged daughters there, described the school as an accepting, caring community.