Minneapolis school shooter’s former GOP lawmaker uncle who defended transgender rights says he wishes killer ‘shot me instead:’ Live updates

Robin Westman’s uncle, former Kentucky lawmaker Bob Heleringer was a pro-transgender Republican who was surprised by his nephew’s actions on Wednesday.

He called the shooting at Annunciation Church an ‘unspeakable tragedy’ in remarks to the Associated Press, and said he is ‘praying for my sister and her other children, and also, obviously, for these poor, poor children.’

‘I wish he had shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren,’ Heleringer bemoaned.

The former lawmaker noted that he did not know his nephew well and last saw him at a family wedding three or four years ago.

But in his own state, Heleringer was known for fighting back against legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors.

As the measure made its way through the Kentucky State Legislature, Heleringer ran ads asking whether the GOP worked for years to gain legislative majorities ‘just to wage an all-out war against defenseless transgender children?

‘Wow, what a bad look for the party of Abraham Lincoln,’ he declared.

Robin Westman was seen sporting long red hair in their high school graduation photograph shown in a video of the ceremony.

However, the suspect appears not to have turned up for the event and was not shown walking across the stage.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been at least 57 shootings at K-12 schools in 2025, not including the latest tragedy in Minneapolis.

The organization said that 47 people have been shot in total at these previous shootings, and at least 15 were killed.

Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie used Wednesday’s shooting to call for an end to the Gun Free School Zone Act.

‘Deranged shooters choose schools because they know their victims are vulnerable. This one even admitted it,’ he wrote on X.

‘There’s never been a shooting like this in a school that allows staff to carry.’

The family of Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman, who were gunned down earlier this year, said today’s shooting was a ‘senseless act of violence’ and called on elected officials to act on ‘common-sense measures.’

‘Mark and Melissa believed that children should be able to gather in schools safely, that communities should be able to worship in peace, and that families should be safe in their homes,’ the family said in a statement.

‘We hope this tragedy spurs elected officials to take action towards common-sense measures on access to high-powered weapons so that no one else must suffer.’

Javen Willis, an eigth grader at Annunciation, told NBC News how he was able to comfort his classmates when the shooting started.

‘We had just sat back down aftr the psalms wre read and we wre just waiting honestly for the next part of the mass to continue and all I hear is “pow, pow, pow”‘ he recounted.

Willis said he immediately told his friends to duck under the pews, and he also followed his own advice.

But soon, the 13 year old said he saw other students ‘stressing [and] crying.’

‘I was like “OK I can’t keep thinking about m, I need to help out these other people and hlep them stay comfortable so they’re not just going through this horrible situation themselves,”‘ he said.

Powerful photos showed emotional community members gathering to remember the victims of the school shooting Wednesday night.

First Lady Melania Trump used the shooting on Wednesday to call for ‘pre-emptive intervention’ to identify potential school shooters.

‘Early warning signs are often evident, with many individuals exhibiting concerning behaviors and making violent threats online prior to their actions,’ she noted.

‘To prevent future tragedies, it is crucial we look into behavioral threat assessments across all levels of society – beginning in our homes, extending through school districts and of course, social media platforms.

‘Being aware of these warning signs and acting quickly can save lives and make American communities safer.’

Robin Westman obtained the firearms used in the deadly shooting throuh legal means, Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed.

He said the shooter had recently ben issued a permit to purchase firearms.

‘I don’t have information about where specifically those weapons were purchased, but they were purchased lawfully,’ O’Hara told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

Local and federal authorities have conducted four search warrants as they try to determine a motive for Wednesday’s deadly shooting.

Among the locations that investigators are searching is the chuch and ‘three resideces in the Twin Cities metro [area] that are associated with the shooter,’ Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins tonight, adding that at least one scene is still being processed.

Meanwhile, the FBI is helping the Minneapolis Police Department sort through documents that have been retrieved from the scene.

Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said that the quick responses of church staff who ‘threw their bodies on top of children to protect them amid the deadly gunfire most likely saved lives.

‘They did the right thing to protect what could have been so many more children dead,’ Frey said during a vigil on Wednesday evening.

‘The way that they acted during severe threat and danger was nothing short of heroic.’

He also thanked first responders ‘who ran towards danger when so many of the rest of us could have ran in the opposite direction.’

Minnesota Twins players held a moment of silence for the shooting victims at Annunciation Church before their game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The players bowed their heads and stood in a row while the entire stadium observed the moment’s silence.

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

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

‘What happened here today will not be gone. Minnesotans will not step away. We’re standing with this community,’ Walz continued.

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.

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 she 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.

Politicians, parents, and students have begun mourning the children killed at the shooting during an evening vigil.

Local people flocked to the gymnasium of Academy of Holy Angels High School along with Governor Tim Walz and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.

The first surviving victim has been identified as Endre Gunter, 13, by his mother who sent a statement to CNN.

Danielle Gunter thanked Minneapolis Police for helping her son get medical aid and for comforting him after he sustained a gunshot to the stomach.

‘Our son was shot at school today, inside a church praying with his classmates,” Gunter said.

‘An MPD officer really helped him,’ she added.

Gunter said Endre is now out of surgery, and his family is working to help him ‘rebuild his life, his trust, and his confidence’.

‘We pray that everyone touched by this tragedy can find the strength to begin rebuilding too,’ she said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a motive for the shooting has not yet been determined.

The FBI is investigating the shooting as a hate crime against Catholics.

In their own school yearbook when they attended Annunciation Catholic grade school in 2017, Westman, then known as Robert, advised fellow students to work ‘harder, faster, stronger’.

Quoting the Daft Punk song under the ‘advice for younger students’ section, Westman wrote the lyrics: ‘Work it, make it / Do it, makes us / Harder, better / Faster, stronger’.

Westman also wrote as their own ‘quote’: ‘If smart people could fly, this place would be an airport’ in an apparent compliment for the institution they would allegedly go on to shoot up several years later.

Children’s Minnesota said seven children were admitted in the aftermath of the shooting ranging in age from nine to 16.

Three children were still in the hospital as of Wednesday evening, while four had been discharged.

‘Our thoughts are with all the victims, their families and loved ones in our communities who are impacted by yet another senseless act of violence,’ the hospital said.

The shooter’s manifesto indicated that they were in the midst of a gender identity crisis.

‘I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man,’ they wrote in the document seen by the New York Post.

‘I really like my outfit. I look pretty, smart and modest. I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting.’

In the warped manifesto posted on YouTube, Westman said they believed they had cancer caused by a vaping habit.

‘I think I am dying of cancer. It’s a tragic end as it’s entirely self inflicted. I did this to myself as I cannot control myself and have been destroying my body through vaping and other means,’ the shooter wrote.

Westman went on to write that they wanted ‘to go out on my own means’.

‘Unfortunately, due to my depression, anger and twisted mind, I want to fulfill a final act that has been in the back of my head for years,’ Westman wrote.

The note was signed with the name ‘Robin M Westman, 2002-2025’ and what appeared to be a bird drawing.

In a disturbing manifesto, the transgender Minneapolis school shooter detailed their desire to murder ‘filthy Zionist Jews’ before carrying out a rampage that left two dead and 19 injured.

Westman scrawled ‘Free Palestine’ in Cyrillic across the journal’s pages.

‘If I were to carry out a racially motivated attack, it would most likely be against filthy Zionist Jews,’ they wrote in one chilling entry.

‘I hate those entitled, penny-sniffing k****,’ they wrote before adding ‘6 million wasn’t enough’ – a chilling reference to the WWII holocaust victims.

The shooter who killed two children and wounded 17 other victims was working at a cannabis dispensary earlier this year.

Rise, which runs a chain of medical cannabis dispensaries in Minnesota, confirmed to the Star-Tribune that Robin Westman worked for one of the stores ‘for several months’.

The shooter was no longer employed at the time of the attack.

It is not clear when they left the company – or why.

‘We are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today in Minnesota. Our deepest condolences go out to the victims, their families, and the entire community impacted by this senseless act of violence,’ the company said in a statement, adding that Rise is cooperating fully with law enforcement.

The parents of mass shooter Robin Westman were seen looking distraught on the sidewalk as police searched their home following the horror attack.

Neighbor Stacey Czeck, who lives two doors down from the suspect’s family, told NBC News she saw Westman’s father and a woman outside their property after news broke of the 23-year-old’s actions.

Czeck said they were ‘demonstrably upset’ with Westman’s dad sitting on the sidewalk with his head in his hands.

They were seen speaking to police for at least an hour, she said.

Czeck described them as friendly and ‘family-oriented’ but said she never had any interactions with the shooter.

Danielle Gunter, the mother of an eigth grader who was shot earlier this morning in the Minneapolis church massacre that killed two, released a statement to the Guardian.

‘For the first responders, who raced into danger for others, for us. We thank them all… Our son shared with us that an MPD officer ‘really helped him.’ He said the officer rendered aid, hugged him, reassured him, and prayed with him before getting into the ambulance…,’ she wrote.

She said that there was ‘there is no higher calling than keeping kids safe’ and called for gun safety laws, saying ‘we ask for leaders to place armed security at schools to prevent another tragedy like this.’

‘We feel the pain, the anger, the confusion, and the searing reality that our lives will never be the same. Yet we still have our child.’

‘Unlike others, we are blessed to hold onto him. We will help him rebuild his life, his trust, and his confidence. We don’t want others to ever feel the same. And we pray that everyone touched by this tragedy can find the strength to begin rebuilding too.’

A now-deleted YouTube account believed to belong to Annunciation Church shooter Robin Westman shared what appeared to be a written manifesto addressed to family and friends just hours before the shooting.

The video appeared to show a drawing of a church. It then showed someone stabbing the drawing repeatedly as they quietly said: ‘I’m going to kill myself.’

Another disturbing drawing showed the shooter, strapped with a gun, looking into a mirror at a horned monster of sorts.

On one page of the manifesto, Westman wrote down a list titled ‘Bands and Artists I Like Enough to Write Down.’

Other clips posted to the YouTube account show gun parts, a semi-automatic rifle, and a shotgun. The gun magazines had the names of other mass shooters written on them.

The phrases written on the magazines also included ‘for the children’ and ‘where is your God?’

One of the parts has a message on it aimed at President Donald Trump, calling for him to be killed.

Minneapolis Police Chier Brian O’Hara confirmed that investigators have search Robin Westman’s homes and have recovered additional firearms.

‘Our investigators are working with other agencies in the process of executing four search warrants. One is for the church itself, where this crime occurred. The other three are residence residences nearby in the metro that are related to this shooter,’ O’Hara said.

‘Additional firearms, are being recovered from those three residential locations as we speak.’

Robin Westman, the 23-year-old transgender woman identified as the shooter who killed two young children on Wednesday, graduated from the school in 2017.

A yearbook obtained by CNN showed Westman, who was previously known as Robert, graduated from Annunciation Catholic’s grade school in 2017.

Westman’s mother also previously worked at the school.

Annunciation Principal Matthew DuBois commended the school’s teachers and said it could have been worse if not for their efforts.

Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes,’ DuBois said.

‘Children were ducked down, adults were protecting children, older children were protecting younger children, and as we heard earlier, it could have been significantly worse without their heroic action.’

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said many of his officers are traumatized by Wednesday’s shooting.

‘The dozens of officers that responded to the scene, many of them are deeply traumatized by what they saw, as are obviously all of the children,’ O’Hara said.

Photos from the scene showed some officers wiping away tears, while others consoled families.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara revealed that three parishioners in their 80s were among those injured in the shooting.

‘All injured victims are expected to survive. There is a wide range of injures, however,’ O’Hara said.

Matthew DeBoer, principal of the Annunciation school, described the two children killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting as angels.

‘We lost two angels today,’ he said. ‘Please continue to pray for those still receiving care.’

DeBoer told the school community, ‘I love you. You’re so brave, and I’m so sorry this happened to us today.’

Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed police are aware of a manifesto posted by Robin Westman.

‘We are also aware of a manifesto that the shooter had timed to be released on YouTube,’ he said.

‘This manifesto appeared to show [Westman] at the scene and included some disturbing writings. That content has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI, and it now remains under active review by our investigators.’

O’Hara said investigators are executing search warrants on the church and three nearby residences connected to the shooter.

‘Additional firearms are being recovered from those three residential locations as we speak,’ O’Hara said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara announced that the shooter, Robin Westman, 23, legally purchased the guns they allegedly used to kill two students.

‘As the weapons used to perpetrate this horrific attack, it was a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. All three had been lawfully purchased by the shooter,’ O’Hara said.

‘At this stage, we believe that the shooter had acted alone.’

O’Hara also noted that the weapons were purchased ‘recently.’

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called out transphobia after the Annunciation Church school shooter was identified as transgender woman, 23-year-old Robin Westman.

‘I have heard about a whole lot of hate that is being directed at our trans community,’ Frey said.

‘Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to vilianize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone.’

He added: ‘We should be operating from a place of love. Kids, kids died today. This needs to be about them.’

The shooter, who grew up in nearby Richfield, changed their name to Robin in 2020, at the age of 17. The name change petition stated that Westman ‘identifies as a female and wants their name to reflect that identification’.

Officials said they are looking into Westman’s motive but said the suspect has no extensive known criminal history.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined officials in Minneapolis for an update on the Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday.

He said the students were met with ‘evil and horror and death.

‘There shouldn’t be word for these incidents because they shouldn’t happen,’ Walz said.

‘There’s no words that’s going to ease the pain of the families today. The thoughts and prayers and hope and support we need to give them is critical.’

Walz revealed thar Donald Trump and the Attorney General reached out to him and offered condolences and support.

Former President Joe Biden posted on X that him and Former First Lady Jill Biden are praying for Minneapolis.

‘No parent should ever have to bury their child. Jill and I are heartbroken and there are simply no words to adequately mark such a horrific and painful moment,’ Biden said.

‘With all our hearts, we are praying for the victims, their families, and the community of Minneapolis.’

A protester in Minneapolis held up a sign that said, ‘F**k thoughts and prayers. Do something!’ after two children were killed at a Church school shooting on Wednesday.

FBI Director Kash Patel provided an update on X, revealing his department is investigating Wednesday’s shooting as domestic terrorism and a hate crime.

‘The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics,’ Patel said.

He confirmed that two children, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, were killed and 14 children and 3 adults were injured.

‘The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman, Patel said.

‘The FBI will continue to provide updates on our ongoing investigation with the public as we are able.’

Former President Barack Obama reacted to the Minneapolis church school shooting on X.

‘We can’t allow ourselves to become numb to mass shootings,’ he said.

‘What happened today in Minneapolis is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I are praying for the parents who have lost a child or will be sitting at their hospital bedside after yet another act of unspeakable, unnecessary violence.’

Students at Annunciation Catholic School, where classes just started on Monday, were in mass when a shooter opened fire on Wednesday.

The school year had kicked off with the theme of ‘A Future Filled with Hope,’ based on a verse in the Book of Jeremiah, according to its website.

‘This verse was chosen very intentionally to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter for our community with new leadership for both our parish and school,’ the school said.

The verse is Jeremiah 29:11, which says: ‘For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.’

Founded in 1923, Annunciation Catholic School had 391 students enrolled for the 2023-24 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The school goes from pre-K to eighth grade.

Michael Simpson said his 10-year-old grandson, Weston Halsne, was attending mass at Annunciation Catholic School when gunfire broke out on Wednesday.

He told the Associated Press that his grandson was nicked by a bullet as he sat by the church windows.

Simpson said the violence has left him wondering whether God was watching over.

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

Devastated parents have spoken out after two children were killed in a Minneapolis Catholic school shooting.

Haunting images have emerged showing Annunciation Catholic School children beaming as they started their school year just days before a gunman murdered at least two of their classmates.

The children were seen smiling in a group picture in their school uniforms in images shared on social media on Monday, which the school captioned #AFutureFilledwithHope.

In another image, the children gathered around a school cafeteria lunch table as one sat with her arm in a cast.

Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman is a transgender woman whose mother worked at the school where two children were slaughtered.

Court records seen by Daily Mail indicate that Westman had previously been known as Robert, having petitioned to have their name changed in 2019.

According to court papers filed in Dakota County, Minnesota, Westman asked the court to change their name to Robin.

Westman had their mother Mary sign the application for a name change as the suspect was still a minor at the time.

The petition was later approved in January of 2020, it adds that Westman: ‘Identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.’

Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences over the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, calling it a ‘terrible tragedy.’

The American pope said he was praying for relatives of the dead and injured ‘at this extremely difficult time’

Leo said he was ‘profoundly saddened’ to learn about the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School church and sent his condolences ‘to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child.’

Police were spotted outside the home of suspected shooter Robin Westman, which was sectioned off with crime scene tape.

Westman’s father, James Westman, owns a home less than one mile from the church, record show.

A now-deleted YouTube account believed to belong to the shooter posted disturbing content hours before the massacre.

The YouTube page appeared to show a drawing of the school’s church. The video shows a person stabbing the drawing repeatedly as they quietly said: ‘I’m going to kill myself.’

Police are looking into the disturbing 20-minute video, according to The New York Post.

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.’

The shooter who opened fire in the church of a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children, has been identified as Robin Westman, 23.

Westman, formerly known as Robert, shot through stained glass windows at the children sitting on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday, officials said. He then turned the gun on himself.

The shooter, who grew up in Richfield, changed his name to Robin in 2020, when he was 17, KARE 11 reported.

Weston Halsne, a fifth grader at Annunciation Catholic School, told WCCO that his friend was shot in the back while trying to shield him from the gunfire.

‘They shot through the stained glass windows, I think, and it was really scary,’ Weston said.

‘The first one I was like “What is that?”… And then I heard it again [and] I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head.

‘My friend Victor saved me, though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit.’

The boy explained they hid under the pews for nearly 10 minutes before being evacuated, and that his friend was taken to the hospital.

‘I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s okay,’ Weston said.

Clarissa Garcia, a fifth-grade student at Annunciation, told KSTP she was praying for her life after a shooter opened fire on her and her classmates.

‘I was just at church and I heard something really loud. I thought it was fireworks in the church, and then I saw the shooting, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I’m so scared,”‘Clarissa said.

She said a different teacher guided her to a different classroom while she was praying for safety.

‘I hope nobody got, like, killed or something like that or, like, hurt. I was just praying if everybody could be safe and, like, nobody would do this again,’ Clarissa said.

The young girl said she finally felt safe once she was reunited with her mother.

‘Like my guardian angel was with me, God was with me. And I was, like, hugging my mom as tightly as I can,’ she said.

Another fifth grader, Weston Halsne, told WCCO that his friend was shot in the back while trying to shield him from the gunfire.

Robin Westman had a now-deleted YouTube account that had one video showing gun parts, a semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun.

The gun parts had the names of other mass shooters written on them – including the Sandy Hook gunman, Adam Lanza, the Norway shooter, Anders Behring Breivik, and the Abundant Life shooter, Natalie Rupnow.

Law enforcement sources told KARE 11 that the mother of the Aunnunciation Church shooter, Robin Westman, worked at the school.

The sources also said that Westman grew up in the area.

Robin Westman, 23, has been identified as the shooter who opened fire in the church of a Minneapolis Catholic School, killing two children.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara previously said the shooter did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone.

The shooter who opened fire in the church of a Minneapolis Catholic School, killing two children, has been identified as Robin Westman, 23.

Westman shot through stained glass windows at the children sitting on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday, officials said.

His identity was confirmed by the local outlet KSTP.

In a new post on X, Minnesota Gov. and former VP Tim Walz said Minnesota was ‘broken’ after the school shooting tragedy that killed three and injured 17.

He thanked first responders before finishing his message saying ‘hug your kids close.’

Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that the mass shooting at Annunciation Church is not related to the other deadly shootings around Minneapolis in the past 24 hours.

Three people were shot and killed in three separate shootings on Tuesday afternoon into early Wednesday morning, local news stations reported.

At least eight people were also injured by gunshot wounds in the incidents.

Minneapolis police believe the gunman fired all three weapons he brought to the scene.

‘The shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol,’ Chief Brian O’Hara said.

‘He was absolutely shooting outside of the building on the side of the church, inside, through the windows.

‘It appears he may have gone inside, but I don’t believe we’ve located any casings inside the building, so I’m not certain if he fired.’

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.

‘Up to this point in time, there have been no fatalities related to any of those patients that were brought to our organization,’ Wyatt said.

The children brought to Hennepin were ages six through 14.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara revealed that the shooter blocked the church doors so people couldn’t escape as the shooting unfolded.

‘The shooter approached on one side of the church building and on that side at least two doors it appears [there] had been a two by four placed,’ O’Hara said.

‘He was absolutely shooting outside the building. It appears he may have gone inside but I don’t believe we have located any casings inside the building. So I’m not certain he also fired while inside.’

Chief Brian O’Hara debunked reports that an explosive device was found at the scene of the Annunciation Church shooting.

‘There were reports of that,’ he said. ‘There were no explosives or improvised devices that we found.’

O’Hara did note that a smoke bomb of sorts was found, but clarified it wasn’t an explosive and described it as ‘a sort of firework.’

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter, a lone gunman believed to be in his early 20s, opened fire into a room full of children as a ‘deliberate act of violence.’

‘This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping,’ O’Hara said.

‘The sheer cruelty and cowardice, firing into a church full of children, is absolutely incomprehensible.’

Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed in the pews, he said. Seventeen people – incluiding 14 children were injured. Two are in critical condition.

‘During the mass, the gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the mass,’ O’Hara said.

‘Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshipers that were inside the building.’

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter was in his early 20s and had no known criminal history.

They are investigating to determine the motive.

‘Coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church,’ O’Hara said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara revealed that two kids, ages 8 and 10, were killed while sitting in the pews.

O’Hara said the gunman approached the building from outside and shot through the windows. He was armed with a shotgun, rifle, and pistol.

He confirmed that two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed while sitting in pews.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey confirmed that children were killed during the Annunciation Church shooting at a press conference, but did not specify how many.

‘Children are dead,’ he said. ‘You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy, or absolute pain of this moment.’

Founded in 1923, the school where the shooting took place had 391 students enrolled for the 2023-24 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Each grade level has two classes, with about 20 students in each class.

The shooter stormed Annunciation Catholic Church on 54th Street around 8:30am local time.

Students at Annunciation Catholic School, where classes just started on Monday, were in mass at the time of the shooting.

The shooter, dressed in all black and reportedly armed with a semiautomatic weapon, ‘pepper-sprayed’ bullets through the stained glass windows at Annunciation Catholic Church this morning.

Pictured: The stained glass windows at Annunciation Church in 2017

Sen. Amy Klobuchar told MSNBC that one of her longtime employees had three children in the school during the shooting.

She said the the woman’s daughter, who is in the seventh grade, watched her friends be shot.

‘These kids are doing an all-school Mass and had to watch several of her friends get shot — one in the back, one in the neck,’ Klobuchar said.

‘And they all got down under the pews and she — her daughter, of course, was not shot — but her daughter ended up being the one to tell one of the dads of one of the other kids that his daughter had been shot.’

One little boy who walked away from the Annunciation Church shooting told his father, ‘I don’t feel safe,’ according to The Minnesota Star-Tribune.

At least two children have been killed after a gunman stormed a Catholic church in Minneapolis and opened fire as the parish school was holding its start-of-year mass.

The shooter, dressed in all black and reportedly armed with a semiautomatic weapon, ‘pepper-sprayed’ bullets through the stained glass windows at Annunciation Catholic Church this morning.

Medics on emergency dispatch audio obtained by the outlet reported that a 10-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the head was being transported.

Additionally the audio said, ‘We have two patients with gunshot wounds to their head in front [of the church]. … we have a critical [victim] in the rear of the church.’

Children’s Minnesota, a pediatric trauma hospital, confirmed they are treating six children from the Annunciation Church shooting who were admitted for care.

‘Children’s Minnesota is aware of the recent tragic shooting in Minneapolis. Our teams are trained to respond in times of crisis, and are fully prepared to care for impacted children,’ the hosptial said.

‘We will not share more details to respect the privacy of our patients and families.’

The gunman at Annunciation Church is said to have killed himself, according to local reports.

The City of Minneapolis confirmed the gunman had been ‘contained’ and that there was no longer an active threat to the community.

A male suspect is dead after a mass shooting left at least two children dead in a Minneapolis catholic school’s church.

The still unidentified gunman, who was reportedly armed with a semiautomatic weapon, shot through stained glass windows as he unleashed the attack at Annunciation Catholic Church this morning.

At least 20 people are believed to have been injured in the tragic incident, with one hospital saying it’s treating five children.

One neighbor near Annunciation Church, Mike Garrity, told The Minnesota Star Tribune he witnessed dozens of kids exiting the church, several of whom were bloody with injuries.

Garrity said some of the kids, who looked to be about six to nine years old, were crying as they left.

Another nearby resident told the newspaper he held the hands of three kids who had gunshot wounds. One was shot in the neck, he said.

‘I feel like the kids, the ones I saw, are going to be OK, and that made me feel good, I didn’t see any fatalities coming out of the building,’ he said.

Minnesota Senator Tina Smith reacted to the Annunciation Church shooting, saying, ‘It’s the first week of school. These kids should not be fearing for their lives.’

A parent who was sitting in the back pew at the 8.15am Mass at Annunciation Church told The Minnesota Star Tribune that students were sitting in the pews when a shooter opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon.

‘He just pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots,’ said the parent. ‘He killed two kids.’

The parent added, ‘This is terrible. This is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this.’

President Donald Trump confirmed he has been briefed on the church shooting in Minneapolis.

‘I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene,’ he said on Truth Social.

‘The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!’

‘We are caring for patients from the shooting that occurred this morning. Please watch this and other social media sites for updates,’ the healthcare system said on X.

Wednesday’s shooting at Annunciation Church is the latest incident in a violent 24 hours in Minneapolis, reported KARE 11.

Three people were shot and killed in three separate shootings on Tuesday afternoon into early Wednesday morning, according to the local news station.

At least eight people were also injured by gunshot wounds in the incidents.

‘I am heartbroken by the horrific violence at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis this morning,’ the senator said on X.

‘My prayers are with the students, teachers, and families, and I am grateful for the first responders who are on the scene.’

Nearby neighbors of the Minnesota church incident told FOX 9 there was so much gunfire they did not call police because they believed the noises were roofing work.

Neighbors also said children from the school were in mass at the time of the shooting.

Sources confirmed to FOX 9 that the Annunciation Church shooting suspect is dead.

The City of Minneapolis said ‘the shooter is contained’ and there is ‘no active threat to the communtiy.’

Minneapolis City Councilmember Linea Palmisano, who represents this area, told WCCO that the ‘shooter is down.’

The local news station noted that development has not been confirmed by law enforcement.

The City of Minneapolis said there is no active threat to the community and the shooter at Annunciation Church has been contained.

‘There is an active police situation at Annunciation Church, 509 W. 54th St. There is no active threat to the community at this time. The shooter is contained,’ the city said on X.

‘Stay away from the area to allow emergency personnel to help victims – W. 54th Street between Lyndale and Nicollet Ave.’

Swarms of officers were spotted outside Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Seven people were shot, one fatally, in a separate mass shooting near a Catholic high school in south Minneapolis yesterday reported Kare11.

Police said the suspect, who escaped in a vehicle and does not appear to have been arrested since, fired around 30 rounds from a high-velocity .223 rifle.

Authorities have not confirmed any connection between the shootings.

Students at Annunciation Catholic School, where a gunman opened fire this morning, started classes on Monday.

They were in mass at the time of the shooting, according to Fox 9.

Officials at Annunciation Catholic School told Daily Mail that ‘now is not the time to be answering your questions.’

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey confirmed he is aware of ‘reports of horrific violence’ after gunman opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church.

‘I’m monitoring reports of horrific violence in South Minneapolis. I’m in touch with Chief O’Hara and our emergency response team has been activated,’ Frey said.

‘We will share more information as soon as we can. Please give our officers the space they need to respond to the situation.’

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives St. Paul Field Division confirmed they are on the scene at Annunciation Church.

‘ATF agents are responding to reports of an active shooter situation at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis,’ the agency said on X.

Governor of Minnesota and former VP Tim Walz took to X on Wednesday to reveal he had been briefed on the church shooting.

He confirmed the BCA and State Patrol were on the scene.

‘I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,’ he wrote.

A gunman has attacked a Catholic church in Minneapolis with reports of at least 20 victims, it has emerged.

Preliminary reports indicate that at least four people are injured in the mass shoot out at Annunciation Church on 54th Street.

Officials at the Catholic grade school on the same grounds as the parish told Daily Mail that ‘now is not the time to be answering your questions’.