Minneapolis Shooting: Gunman Kills Two Children During Catholic School Mass
Fourteen of the injured victims were children, and two are in critical condition, O’Hara said.
Two children were killed and 17 people injured after a gunman dressed in black fired dozens of rounds through the windows of a Minneapolis Catholic church holding a Mass for elementary school students.
The unidentified gunman, who was in his early 20s, then took his own life in the rear of the church adjacent to the Annunciation Catholic School, said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. He was armed with a rifle, shotgun and a pistol, and he is believed to have fired from all three weapons, the chief said.
Fourteen of the injured victims were children, and two are in critical condition, O’Hara said. The two children killed were 8 and 10 years old.
“There are no words that can capture the horror of this unspeakable act,” Mayor Jacob Frey said at a press briefing.
Founded in 1923, the school runs pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and had scheduled an all-school Mass at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday to mark the the first week of school.
Police responded to emergency calls around 8:30 a.m. Emergency crews requested a mass-casualty response, and fire units began bringing in additional resources. Once at the scene, response teams attempted to provide first aid and rescue the children who were hiding inside the building, O’Hara said.
A vehicle was left behind on the scene and it is uncertain whether the gunman was carrying the weapons lawfully, O’Hara said.
Governor Tim Walz said earlier he had been briefed and that the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol were on site.
The FBI said its Minneapolis office had deployed agents. President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the shooting and that the White House was monitoring “this terrible situation.”
Students had returned to classes on Monday, with photos showing children in green uniforms greeting classmates and lining up bikes outside the building.
The incident comes after a string of shootings in Minneapolis over the past 24 hours. One person was killed and six others were injured Tuesday afternoon outside a city high school. Two other shootings later in the day left two more people dead, according to the Associated Press.
O’Hara said the earlier incidents weren’t connected to Wednesday’s attack.
