The Latest: All 14 injured kids expected to survive after shooting at Minneapolis Catholic school

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A shooter opened fire Wednesday morning during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children and injuring 17 other people before killing himself, officials said.

Police said 14 of the injured were children, ages 6 to 15, and they are all expected to survive. The three adults who were injured are parishioners in their 80s, officials said.

The shooting happened at Annunciation Catholic School, just days after the first day of school on Monday.

“It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said.

The White House said in a social media post that Trump ordered flags at half-staff for all government buildings until sunset on Sunday “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence.”

Here’s the latest:

What do we know about the shooter?

Police Chief O’Hara said the shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol and a motive has not yet been identified.

He said the shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, did not have an extensive known criminal history, acted alone and legally purchased the weapons recently.

Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and the mayor decried hatred being directed at “our transgender community.” Westman’s gender identity is not clear. In 2020 a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”

Former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer told The Associated Press that he is Westman’s uncle but had not seen Westman in a few years. He added that he “barely knew” Westman, whose family “never lived in Louisville. They lived in Minnesota.”

Speaking in a phone interview, Heleringer said he wished Westman “had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren.”

Vigil for Minneapolis Catholic school shooting victims gets underway

People packed into a gym at Holy Angels Academy in suburban Richfield for Wednesday night’s vigil.

It began hours after a shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a church at the Annunciation Catholic School, several miles away.

The attack on a Mass during the first week of school killed two children and wounded 17 people. The shooter died by suicide.

Police aware of videos apparently linked to shooter

Police say they are aware of video material apparently time-released by the suspected shooter and of possible writings shared by the person.

A YouTube channel titled Robin W had at least two videos that were captured before being taken down by the site.

In one that lasts about 10 minutes, the alleged shooter shows weapons and ammunition. Many have sayings written on them including the phrases “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” Some are in Cyrillic.

The person holds up a letter to relatives, sings the word “tomorrow” and says, “I’m sorry to my family … that’s the only people I’m sorry to.”

A second, almost 20-minute video shows two journals with stickers, some depicting weapons. The alleged shooter flips to what looks to be a drawing of the layout of the church, points to two outside windows and then stabs the illustration with a long knife.

‘She thought she was going to die’

Vincent Francoual, 57, said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived by running downstairs to hide in a room with a table pressed against the door.

But Francoual was still unsure of exactly how she escaped because was struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatic scene.

“She told us today that she thought she was going to die,” he said.

Francoual said his daughter feels guilty because at one point she left a classmate behind to keep running.

Other parents told Francoual that their children had to step over the bodies of the two who were killed.

“It’s too much to process,” Francoual said.

He said he knows the parents of one of the dead children because they went on a trip to the Dominican Republic with a large group of families from the school over spring break this year.

All injured children are expected to survive, police chief says

O’Hara said all of the victims are expected to survive, though they have a range of injuries.

O’Hara also said dozens of officers responded to the shooting and many of them — as well as the children and staff present in the church — are deeply traumatized by what they saw.

Authorities are aware of video the shooter posted online, O’Hara says

O’Hara said the content, which the shooter had timed for release on YouTube, has been taken down and is under active review.

The shooter lawfully purchased the firearms used in shooting, police chief says

O’Hara identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, adding that Westman had no prior criminal history and law enforcement believes he acted alone.

‘Minnesotans will not step away’

“What happened here today will not be gone. Minnesotans will not step away. We’re standing with this community,” Walz said during the news conference.

He added that violence is all too common across the country and “it’s Minnesota’s day today.”

“It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this,” he said.

Walz says students were met with ‘evil and horror and death’

“There’s no words that’s going to ease the pain of the families today,” the governor said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Walz called the church a place founded on community, service and family.

Minneapolis shooting being investigated as domestic terrorism

In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.

Walz orders US and Minnesota flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings

The governor also urged individuals, businesses and other organizations to do so. He did not set a date for raising flags.

‘My heart is broken’

The archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Bernard Hebda, thanked Pope Leo XIV for his prayers and prayers from others around the globe.

“My heart is broken as I think about students, teachers, clergy and parishioners and the horror they witnessed in a Church, a place where we should feel safe,” the archbishop said in a statement. Hebda said staff from the archdiocese are providing support to the parish and school.

“We need an end to gun violence. Our community is rightfully outraged at such horrific acts of violence perpetrated against the vulnerable and innocent,” he wrote.

North Dakota governor directs flags to be flown at half-staff

In neighboring North Dakota, Gov. Kelly Armstrong directed flags to be flown at half-staff in accordance with the president’s proclamation, and said he and his wife, Kjersti, “are heartbroken for our neighbors in Minnesota and praying for the victims of the unspeakable act of violence at Annunciation Catholic School and their families. We are grateful for the first responders and medical professionals caring for the victims.”

Pope Leo XIV calls the shooting a ‘terrible tragedy’ and prays for the relatives of the dead and those injured

Pope Leo XIV has sent a telegram of condolences over the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, calling it a “terrible tragedy” and saying he was praying for relatives of the dead and injured “at this extremely difficult time.”

Leo, history’s first American pope, said he was “profoundly saddened” to learn about the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School church. He sent his condolences “to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child.”

The Chicago-born Leo said he was praying for those injured and the medical teams and first responders at the scene, and for the broader Catholic community.

The telegram was signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and was addressed to Archbishop Bernard Hebda, the archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

-Nicole Winfield

US Conference of Catholic Bishops releases statement, asking for healing

In response to the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minn., Archbishop William E. Lori, vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement.

“As a Church, we are following the tragic news from Annunciation School in Minneapolis with heartbreaking sadness. Whenever one part of the Body of Christ is wounded, we feel the pain as if it were our very own children. Let us all beg the Lord for the protection and healing of the entire Annunciation family.”

Trump orders flags at half-staff to mark Minneapolis shooting

The White House said in a post on X that Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday afternoon ordering flags to be lowered at all government buildings until sunset on Sunday “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence.”

‘Minnesota is heartbroken’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on X: “Minnesota is heartbroken. From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together. Hug your kids close.”

Over a dozen children and 2 adults are being treated at trauma hospitals

Hennepin Healthcare, the main trauma hospital in Minneapolis, said in a statement that they received 10 patients, including several children — ages 6 through 14 — and two adults. Seven were considered to be in critical condition.

The hospital previously said it had received 11 patients.

Children’s Minnesota, a pediatric trauma hospital, said it admitted several children ages 9 through 16.

Authorities say the shooter is believed to have acted alone

The police chief said the shooter was in his early 20s, did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone, but did not release the name or information on possible connections to the school.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that authorities have identified the shooter as Robin Westman. That official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

— Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed from Washington.

‘I don’t know where He is’

Michael Simpson said his 10-year-old grandson, Weston Halsne, was nicked by a bullet as he sat by the church windows on Wednesday.

His voice shaking as he left the area around the school, Simpson said the violence during Mass on the third day of school left him wondering whether God was watching over.

“I don’t know where He is,” Simpson said.

‘It’s just really hard for me to take in’

Aubrey Pannhoff, a 16-year-old student at a nearby Catholic school, stood crying just outside the police cordon around Annunciation Catholic School.

She went on a mission trip to Colorado with Annunciation earlier this summer and to the school after her own school’s lockdown and prayer service.

“I’m just asking him (God) why right now. It’s little kids,” she said.

One of her mission trip leaders’ children was grazed by a bullet, Pannhoff said, and she doesn’t know how the other teachers are. “It’s just really hard for me to take in.”

Trump has spoken with Walz, the White House says

That follows the president opting not to speak to Walz, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last year’s election against Trump, when a gunman killed one Minnesota state lawmaker and wounded another in meticulously planned attacks earlier this year.

Trump also said in a previous social media post that he had been briefed on the “tragic shooting” and that the White House would continue to monitor it.

The shooting comes 2 months after the top Democrat in the state House was killed

The June 14 shootings in the northern Minneapolis suburbs left former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, dead. A state senator and his wife were also seriously injured. Authorities say they were attacked at their homes by a man disguised as a police officer.

The alleged gunman, Vance Boelter of Green Isle, is facing federal and state murder charges and other counts. He was indicted in July on six federal counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. He pleaded not guilty to those charges earlier this month in federal court. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors haven’t decided yet whether to pursue that option.

Boelter also faces state charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder and charges of impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty. The maximum penalty on the state charges is life in prison because Minnesota doesn’t have the death penalty.

At least 9 children are being treated at a trauma hospital

Hennepin Healthcare, the main trauma hospital in Minneapolis, received 11 patients, including nine children and two adults, said Dr. Thomas Wyatt, the chair of emergency medicine, during a press briefing.

There were no deaths among any of the 11 patients brought there. Four of the patients were taken to operating rooms.

The children brought to Hennepin were ages six through 14.

Police chief says the shooting was a ‘deliberate act of violence against innocent children’

“The sheer cruelty and cowardice, firing into a church full of children, is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara said during the briefing.

Police chief: Suspect is believed to have fired all 3 weapons: a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol

He said it appears all or most of the shooting was done from outside. Police found no casings inside.

Authorities also found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene.

Minneapolis police say the shooting left 3 dead, including the shooter

The police chief said dozens of children were inside the mass at the time of the shooting. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews, he added.

Seventeen other people were wounded — 14 of them children, the police chief said.

O’Hara said the shooter, in his early 20s, shot himself behind the church.

Officials believed he acted alone and are investigating what he left behind that would speak to his motive.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says the shooting unfolded during a mass at the church

O’Hara said officers responded to a report of a shooting during a mass at the church that was meant to the first week of school for children attending the Catholic school.

The police chief said the shooter was armed with a shotgun, a rifle and a pistol. He said the shooter fired the rifle through the church windows toward children sitting in the pews and struck children and worshippers inside.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says children are dead after shooting at Catholic school

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Frey said at a news conference outside the school. “These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.”

Locals express shock and sadness

Bill Bienemann, who lives a couple of blocks away and has long attended Mass at Annunciation Church, said he heard dozens of shots, perhaps as many as 50, over as long as four minutes.

“I was shocked. I said, ‘There’s no way that could be gunfire,’” he said. “There was so much of it. It was sporadic.”

Bienemann’s daughter, Alexandra, said she attended the school from kindergarten to eighth grade, finishing in 2014. After she heard of the shooting, she said she was shaking and crying, and her boss told her to take the day off.

“It breaks my heart, makes me sick to my stomach, knowing that there are people I know who are either injured or maybe even killed,” Alexandra Bienemann said. “It doesn’t make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been in for so long.”

The scene outside

Outside of the school, amid a heavy uniformed law enforcement presence, children stood dressed in their dark green shirts or dresses.

Many were trickling out of the school with adults, giving lingering hugs and wiping away tears.

The shooting is the latest act of gun violence in Minneapolis

One person was killed and six others were hurt in a shooting on Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in Minneapolis. Hours later, two people died in two other shootings in the city.

This was the first week back to class for Annunciation School

Dating to 1923, the prekindergarten through eighth grade school had an all-school Mass scheduled at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to its website.

Monday was the first day of school, and social media photos from that day show students in green uniforms greeting each other at bicycle racks, smiling for the camera and sitting together.