Two children were killed and 17 people were injured — 14 of them children — in a shooting Wednesday morning at a Minneapolis Catholic school.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooting occurred just before 8:30 a.m. local time during a Mass in the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School, when a shooter standing outside fired through church windows at worshippers.
“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 two children who died, aged 8 and 10, were killed as they sat in the pews. Two of the injured victims are in critical condition.
O’Hara said the shooter was in his early 20s and was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol — all of which he fired during the attack, authorities believe.
The gunman was found dead of a what investigators believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, O’Hara said.
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.”
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.”
The Minneapolis Police Department said in a post on Facebook Wednesday mid-morning that the shooter was “contained” and there was “no active threat to the community at this time.”
This is a developing story.