Updated August 27, 2025 at 4:53 PM EDT
Two children were killed and 17 people were injured — 14 of them children — in a shooting Wednesday morning at a Minneapolis Catholic school, as students, staff and parishioners were gathered for a Mass to mark the first week of school.
The shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, was found dead in the back of the church from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
"This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping," O'Hara said. "The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible."
The attack happened just before 8:30 a.m. local time at Annunciation Church, located next to the school, when Westman fired through the church windows from outside.
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The two children who died, ages 8 and 10, were killed as they sat in the pews. The other children shot in the attack ranged in age from six to 15 years old, while the three adults injured were parishioners in their 80s. All of those injured are expected to recover, O'Hara said.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel identified the shooter as Robin Westman. According to O'Hara, Westman was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol — all of which were fired during the attack, authorities believe.
In 2020, Westman's mother applied to change the name of her 17-year-old child from Robert to Robin. In court documents obtained by NPR, the mother, Mary Grace Westman, wrote, "minor child identifies as female and wants her name to reflect that identification."
"Children are dead. There are families that have a deceased child," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. "You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy or the absolute pain of this situation."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a post on X that he was "praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence."
President Trump said in a post on his social media site Truth Social that he had been fully briefed on the shooting and that the FBI was on the scene.
"The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!" he said.
Dr. Thomas Wyatt, the chair of emergency medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, told reporters that the Level I trauma center was treating 11 patients, nine of whom are students. Seven are in critical condition.
Children's Minnesota hospital told NPR that it had admitted six children for care following the shooting.
"Our teams are trained to respond in times of crisis, and are fully prepared to care for impacted children," the hospital said in a statement. "We will not share more details to respect the privacy of our patients and families."
This is a developing story.
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