A shooter opened fire at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring at least 17 others.
The shooting happened at the Annunciation Catholic Church, which is connected to the school.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara says they were shot while “sitting in the pews at Mass” at Annunciation Catholic School, connected to the school.
Police have identified the gunman as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old with no prior criminal history.
Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, Westman arrived at the church just before 8:30 am. Wednesday. Police say dozens of rounds were fired through the side windows directly into pews filled with children marking the first week of the school year. Two children, aged eight and ten, were killed. Fourteen other pupils and three parishioners in their eighties were wounded.
The suspect shot through the church windows and then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooter, identified as Robin Westman, opened fire through stained-glass windows at Annunciation Catholic School as students attended Mass.
Westman, who went by the first name Robert before identifying as female, was an ex-student.
US conservative activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday shared images that showed the shooter had scrawled ‘Mashallah’, “Nuke India” and “Israel Must Fall” on the weapons used in the mass shooting.
Court records reveal Westman was born Robert Paul Westman and had their name legally changed in 2020 after a petition by their mother, Mary Westman, who said her child identified as female. Authorities have referred to Westman as transgender, though officials stressed that gender identity was not relevant to the motive for the attack.
Westman used three guns – all bought legally – to carry out the shooting, according to a police chief. No motive has been identified, but police are now looking into videos apparently posted by the gunman.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the attack is being investigated as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.”
Mayor Jacob Frey later told reporters that children were among those killed during the morning mass at Annunciation Catholic School. While he did not specify the number of victims, he confirmed that “children are dead.”“You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy, or absolute pain of this moment,” Frey said.
US President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the “tragic shooting” and expressed concern over the incident.Trump said on Truth Social: “I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”
US flags at the White House and all public buildings will be flown at half-mast until sunset “as a mark of respect for the victims”
“Whenever one part of the Body of Christ is wounded, we feel the pain as if it were our very own children” Archbishop William E. Lori, Vice President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement posted on X.
In a statement, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis said he was heartbroken thinking about the “students, teachers, clergy and parishioners and the horror they witnessed in a Church, a place where we should feel safe.”
The shooting comes at a particularly difficult time for Minnesota and the Greater Minneapolis area.
Just before the school shooting, three people were killed in three shootings within about 13 hours. And earlier in June, a gunman targeted the homes of two state politicians in the Minneapolis suburbs. Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in the attack.
(Picture Courtesy: Reuters)
