Officers arrange boundaries after a shooting at Annunciation Church, which can also be dwelling to a an elementary school, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. Aug. 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer | Reuters
A gunman killed two younger kids and injured 17 individuals gathered at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis for a service on Wednesday to mark the primary week of the parish’s school, police stated.
Fourteen of the injured are kids, two of whom are in important situation, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara stated at a information convention.
The kids who died have been 8 and 10 years previous, O’Hara stated.
The shooter, who officers later recognized as Robin Westman, is lifeless from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, he stated.
Westman left behind a number of on-line movies referencing violent ideas and suicide, in addition to a sketch of a church’s inside and an apology to their household, senior regulation enforcement officers briefed on the matter instructed NBC News.
The assault occurred simply earlier than 8:30 a.m. native time, as the kids attended the service on the church.
The gunman, armed with a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun, and clad in black cargo-style pants, was positioned on the skin of the constructing and started firing by home windows towards the kids, who have been sitting in pews.
The shooter, who’s in his 20s and doesn’t have an intensive legal historical past, is believed to have acted alone, O’Hara stated.
The chief stated he was not conscious if the shooter was a former worker or pupil of Annunciation.
“The sheer cruelty and cowardice, the firing into a church full of children, is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara stated.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated: “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying!”
“There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act,” Frey stated.
Parents await information of their kids’s standing after shooting at Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning, Aug. 27, 2025 in Minneapolis.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii | The Minnesota Star Tribune | Getty Images
“Do not think of these as just somebody else’s kids. Those families are suffering immense pain right now. Think of this as if it were your own,” the mayor added.
Victims have been admitted to 2 completely different hospitals. The 9 kids being handled at Hennepin Healthcare Hospital are between 6 and 14 years previous, the hospital stated at a information convention.
Before the shooter was declared contained, Gov. Tim Walz stated that he had been briefed on the shooting and that he was “praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.”
President Donald Trump spoke to Walz after the shooting, a White House official instructed NBC.
Trump “called to offer his condolences to the people of Minnesota and Governor Walz thanked him for the support,” a supply acquainted with the decision instructed NBC.
In a proclamation Wednesday afternoon, Trump ordered that American flags be flown at half mast on the White House and on all U.S. public grounds and navy posts till Sunday at sundown.
Law enforcement officers collect outdoors the Annunciation Church’s school in response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis.
Mark Vancleave | AP
Minnesota’s U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, thanked first responders and expressed grief over the violence.
“It’s the first week of school. These kids should not be fearing for their lives,” Smith wrote.