A shooter opened fire Wednesday morning during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children and wounding 17 others before killing himself, officials said.
The city’s mayor said children had died in the shooting with Minneapolis police saying three people had perished, among them the shooter.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told the media that the shooter, in his early twenties, sprayed bullets into the Annunciation Church as dozens of students were at Mass.
The church sits next to an affiliated school in the south of the city.
“Two young children, ages eight and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews,” O’Hara said, adding that 17 others were wounded, among them 14 children.
O’Hara said the shooter was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, before approaching the side of the church and shooting dozens of rounds through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass just before 8:30 a.m local time (1330 GMT).
The school was evacuated, and students’ families were later directed to a “reunification zone.”
‘Horrific act of violence,’ says Governor Walz
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he had been briefed on the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School “and will continue to provide updates as we get more information.”
“I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz said.
What have been the reactions to the shooting?
said he was briefed on “the tragic shooting in Minneapolis.”
“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation,” he wrote on social media. “Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”
Later on Wednesday, Trump ordered flags to stand at half-mast “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence.”
The White House said in a post on X that Trump signed a proclamation ordering flags to be lowered at all government buildings until sunset on Sunday.
Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday he was “profoundly saddened” by the shooting.
The pontiff — the first from the US to head the Catholic Church — sent his condolences to “those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child.”
The shooting occurred just two days after school started at Annunciation Catholic School, a private elementary school with around 395 students connected to a Catholic Church in a residential area in the southeast of Minnesota’s largest city.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
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