A black-clad gunman killed two children and wounded 17 other people on Wednesday, when he opened fire on students attending Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, authorities said.
The assailant, a man in his early 20s, fired through the school’s chapel windows at students sitting in pews and then took his own life, officials said. The children killed were eight and 10 years old, they said.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara told reporters.
The shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, a private elementary school with about 395 students, was the 146th such incident since January, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
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“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church,” a visibly angry Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference.
Officials said the gunman fired dozens of rounds, using a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. At least two of the chapel doors had been barricaded from the outside using 2 x 4 planks, Mr O’Hara said.
Local hospitals said they were treating 14 children and two adults, with many suffering gunshot wounds.
Fifth grade pupil Weston Halsne told CBS News his friend was hit by a bullet while trying to protect him.
“The shots were like, right next to me,” Weston said. “I think I got like gunpowder on my neck.”
Officials said the gunman did not have an extensive criminal history.
In a statement, the FBI said it was investigating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics”.
Law enforcement was investigating multiple online videos to determine if they were posted by the gunman, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They also said they found a smoke bomb at the scene and were searching a vehicle in the parking lot.
US president Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the shooting and said the FBI was on the scene. “Please join me in praying for everyone involved,” he said on social media.
The US department of homeland security said it was in touch with local authorities and monitoring the situation, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said on social media.
There have been three other shootings in the Midwestern city since Tuesday afternoon, including one at a Jesuit high school, that have together left three people dead and seven wounded, according to police.
Wednesday’s shooting did not appear to be related to the others, Mr O’Hara said.
Minneapolis has experienced a significant rise in homicides in the years following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, which prompted nationwide protests, civil disturbances and staffing shortages in the city’s police department. The city recorded 54 homicides last year, down from 71 in 2021 but well above the 29 recorded in 2019.
In June, Minnesota also experienced an incident of political violence, when a gunman posing as a police officer allegedly assassinated a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in their home, and wounded another lawmaker and his wife. The suspect was arrested after a two-day manhunt and faces state and federal murder charges.
Minnesota state law requires background checks for all gun sales and the state as a whole has a gun death rate below the national average, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention group.
– Reuters
