MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A shooter opened fire Wednesday morning during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children and injuring 17 other people before killing himself, officials said.
Police said 14 of the injured were children, ages 6 to 15, and they are all expected to survive. The three adults who were injured are parishioners in their 80s, officials said.
The shooting happened at Annunciation Catholic School, just days after the first day of school on Monday.
“It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said.
The White House said in a social media post that Trump ordered flags at half-staff for all government buildings until sunset on Sunday “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence.”
Here's the latest:
Police aware of videos apparently linked to shooter
Police say they are aware of video material apparently time-released by the suspected shooter and of possible writings shared by the person.
A YouTube channel titled Robin W had at least two videos that were captured before being taken down by the site.
In one that lasts about 10 minutes, the alleged shooter shows weapons and ammunition. Many have sayings written on them including the phrases “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” Some are in Cyrillic.
The person holds up a letter to relatives, sings the word “tomorrow” and says, “I’m sorry to my family ... that’s the only people I’m sorry to.”
A second, almost 20-minute video shows two journals with stickers, some depicting weapons. The alleged shooter flips to what looks to be a drawing of the layout of the church, points to two outside windows and then stabs the illustration with a long knife.
‘She thought she was going to die’
Vincent Francoual, 57, said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived by running downstairs to hide in a room with a table pressed against the door.
But Francoual was still unsure of exactly how she escaped because was struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatic scene.
“She told us today that she thought she was going to die,” he said.
Francoual said his daughter feels guilty because at one point she left a classmate behind to keep running.
Other parents told Francoual that their children had to step over the bodies of the two who were killed.
“It’s too much to process,” Francoual said.
He said he knows the parents of one of the dead children because they went on a trip to the Dominican Republic with a large group of families from the school over spring break this year.
All injured children are expected to survive, police chief says
O’Hara said all of the victims are expected to survive, though they have a range of injuries.
O’Hara also said dozens of officers responded to the shooting and many of them — as well as the children and staff present in the church — are deeply traumatized by what they saw.
The shooter lawfully purchased the firearms used in shooting, police chief says
O’Hara identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, adding that Westman had no prior criminal history and law enforcement believes he acted alone.
‘Minnesotans will not step away’
“What happened here today will not be gone. Minnesotans will not step away. We’re standing with this community,” Walz said during the news conference.
He added that violence is all too common across the country and “it’s Minnesota’s day today.”
“It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this,” he said.
Walz says students were met with ‘evil and horror and death’
“There’s no words that’s going to ease the pain of the families today,” the governor said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Walz called the church a place founded on community, service and family.
Minneapolis shooting being investigated as domestic terrorism
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.
Walz orders US and Minnesota flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings
The governor also urged individuals, businesses and other organizations to do so. He did not set a date for raising flags.
‘My heart is broken’
The archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Bernard Hebda, thanked Pope Leo XIV for his prayers and prayers from others around the globe.
“My heart is broken as I think about students, teachers, clergy and parishioners and the horror they witnessed in a Church, a place where we should feel safe,” the archbishop said in a statement. Hebda said staff from the archdiocese are providing support to the parish and school.
“We need an end to gun violence. Our community is rightfully outraged at such horrific acts of violence perpetrated against the vulnerable and innocent,” he wrote.
Pope Leo XIV calls the shooting a ‘terrible tragedy’ and prays for the relatives of the dead and those injured
Pope Leo XIV has sent a telegram of condolences over the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, calling it a “terrible tragedy” and saying he was praying for relatives of the dead and injured “at this extremely difficult time.”
Leo, history’s first American pope, said he was “profoundly saddened” to learn about the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School church. He sent his condolences “to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child.”
The Chicago-born Leo said he was praying for those injured and the medical teams and first responders at the scene, and for the broader Catholic community.
The telegram was signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and was addressed to Archbishop Bernard Hebda, the archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis.