Two children are dead and 17 were injured after a shooter opened fire during a morning Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
The suspect in the Minneapolis shooting died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooter was later identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
“During the Mass, a gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the Mass,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
The shooter was armed with a shotgun, a rifle and a pistol, O’Hara said.
Gov. Tim Walz said his state is “heartbroken” and urged all parents to hold their children close.
“From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together,” Walz wrote in a post on X. “Hug your kids close.”
President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on the tragic shooting” in Minneapolis.
“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform. “The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”
One of the wounded children was taken to M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital and is in stable condition, the hospital said in a statement.
“All of us at Fairview Health Services are heartbroken by the tragic shooting in Minneapolis this morning,” the Fairview statement said. “Our thoughts are with the children, families, educators, and community members impacted by this senseless violence.”
All 17 children injured are expected to survive, the city’s police chief said at a press conference late Wednesday, with some victims having already been released from hospital.
Seventeen people were injured, police said. Fourteen of the injured victims were children ages 6 to 15, while the three adults who were shot were parishioners in their 80s, O’Hara said.
