An assailant armed with three guns opened fire through stained-glass windows into a Catholic church during a school Mass on Wednesday, killing two children and wounding 17 others, officials said.
The suspect, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, “took his own life” at the rear of the church, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. He gave no possible motive.
A video message from Westman showed struggles with depression and fascination with past mass shooters.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the attack is being investigated as an “act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.”
Two children, ages 8 and 10, were shot dead in their seats. Gunfire sent worshippers diving behind pews while older students shielded younger ones. Two exits had been barricaded with wooden planks outside, O’Hara said.
The shooting happened during an annual back-to-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic School.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara said.
Seventeen others were injured, including 14 students ages 6 to 18 and three parishioners in their 80s. All are expected to recover.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Westman, formerly known as Robert, once attended the school.
“I have no information to share on a motive, other than to say there was some kind of manifesto timed to come out on YouTube,” O’Hara said. Authorities later removed the video.
Suicide Message
Videos showed a suicide note in which Westman wrote of depression and a desire to commit a mass shooting. Rifle magazines bore names of past shooters alongside political grievances.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristie Noem said the suspect was “claiming to be transgender.” She added: “This deranged monster targeted our most vulnerable: young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year.”
Court records show Westman changed the name from Robert in 2020 after identifying as female.
At a press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey warned against politicizing the suspect’s gender.
“Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity,” he said.
Frey said widespread gun access remains a driver of mass shootings in the U.S.
The Annunciation attack, at a school of 395 students, was the 146th school-related shooting this year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Unlike most incidents, the assailant fired from outside into the building.
Westman used a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, all legally and recently purchased, O’Hara said. More weapons were found at other locations tied to the suspect.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told CBS News his friend was shot while protecting him.
“The shots were like, right next to me,” Halsne said. “I think I got like gunpowder on my neck.”
Records show Westman’s mother once worked at Annunciation Church. Relatives declined to comment.
Officials said Westman had no criminal history and acted alone. Westman worked briefly this year at a Minnesota cannabis dispensary but was no longer employed there, the company said.
President Donald Trump ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff nationwide.
Police said the attack was unrelated to three other shootings in Minneapolis within 24 hours, including one at a Jesuit high school.
Minneapolis homicides have risen since the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, fueled by unrest and staffing shortages.
In May, a gunman posing as a police officer killed the state House speaker and her husband, and wounded a senator and his wife. Authorities called it a targeted political attack. The suspect has pleaded not guilty.
