Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Two children were killed and 17 people, including 14 children, were injured in a shooting during Mass at a Catholic school in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. The 23-year-old transgender woman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara confirmed that two children, 8 and 10, were killed "where they sat, in the pews," for a service marking for the beginning of the school year at Annunciation Catholic Church. An additional 14 students and three adults were injured in the attack.
Injured children were between 6 and 15, with three adults in their 80s also hurt.
Seven of the people injured arrived at a nearby hospital in critical condition but are expected to survive, police said during a news conference.
"As horrible as this has been, it could have been far worse," Mayor Jacob Frey said in an afternoon news conference.
In the morning press briefing, he said: "Don't just say this is about 'thoughts and prayers' right now. These kids were literally praying."
The FBI is investigating the attack as domestic terrorism, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.
In an afternoon news conference, O'Hare said the shooter was identified as Robin Westman, a transgender woman who lived in Richland, a suburb of Minneapolis. Westman attended Annunciation Church grade school in 2017, according to a yearbook obtained by CNN.
Westman was employed "for several months" this year by Rise, a chain of medical cannabis dispensaries in Minnesota, a spokesman for the chain's parent company told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Robin Westman's mother, who had worked at the school from 2016 to 2021, applied to change her child's name in 2019 from Robert Paul Westman in Dakota County, because she identified as female.
"Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any community out there has lost their sense of humanity," the mayor said.
"Kids died today. This needs to be about them. This needs to be about wrapping our arms around these families with every bit of love that we can possibly show."
O'Hara said during a morning news conference that police responded around 8:30 a.m. CDT to reports of a shooting at a mass at the Annunciation Church and its school.
The gunman, equipped with a pistol, smoke bomb, shotgun and rifle, approached from the side of the building, apparently barricaded church doors from the outside and then fired "dozens of rounds" through the church windows, and both children and other worshippers were shot.
The shooter used all firearms in the attack, then took their life in the rear of the church.
The rifle, shotgun and pistol were lawfully purchased by him, O'Hara said. Police were aware of a video planned to have been released on YouTube. The video showed four guns, ammunition, a letter to family and friends, as well as clothing.
O'Hara said the shooter is not known to have an extensive criminal history, and his motive is yet to be determined.
Waltz led off the news conference, noting it was the first day of school.
"Instead of that joy and curiosity they were met with evil and horror and death," Waltz said. "We often say this is unspeakable tragedy and there are no words. Well, there shouldn't be words."
He spoke with President Donald Trump, who ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff until sundown Sunday at the White House and "all public buildings, and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government," until sunset Sunday.
Trump posted on Truth Social: "Please join me in praying for everyone involved."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz ordered flags in the state at half-staff.
First responders and school staff were praised.
"Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes," Principal Matt DeBoer 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."
In a joint letter with Father Dennis Zehren, they wrote: "We are navigating an impossible situation together at this time. No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks. But we will navigate this - together."
The school's building opened in September 1923, one year after the parish was created.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said many residents have ties to Annunciation Catholic.
She said she heard from a former staffer whose children attend the school and who knows children wounded.
"One of the things that people nationally don't understand is that this school is enmeshed in our community," Klobuchar said. "There's shops, people. There's a neighborhood. And that whole community suffers."
Danielle Gunter is the mother of an eighth-grade boy who was shot and survived.
"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." Gunter said. "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."
Seven children ages 9-16 were brought to the Children's Minnesota pediatric trauma hospital for care, and one was discharged.
M Health Fairview said one child was admitted to its Masonic Children's Hospital and is in stable condition.
Hennepin Healthcare, a Level 1 Trauma Center, received 11 patients from the shooting, according to Chair of Emergency Medicine Tom Wyatt. Nine were children and two were adults. Six children and one adult were in critical condition, and four required an operating room.
"We've had two mass casualty events happen in the last 24 hours," Wyatt said. "That does take a toll. "But we also have to recognize that we are here as a critical resource for our community and we have to take time to process the care that we deliver in these situations and we have to be able to move forward because we are obviously needed."
On Tuesday, about 4 miles from the church, one person died and six others were injured in a mass shooting.
In June, two Minnesota legislators and their spouses were shot at their homes. Rep. Melissa Hortman, a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farm-Labor Party; her husband, Mark; and their dog, Gilbert, were killed. Injured were state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Vance Boelter was apprended a day after the shooting and is facing numerous state and federal charges.,
So far this year there have been 286 mass shooting this year with 503 in 2024, according to CNN analysis.
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