Two children have been killed and 17 other people injured after a shooter opened fire at a school in Minneapolis.
The shooter – Robin Westman – opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a church at Annunciation Catholic School and struck a group of children as they sat in pews on Wednesday morning.
The victims killed were aged eight and 10, and the others injured included 14 children, two of whom were in a critical condition, according to the city’s police chief Brian O’Hara.
Here is what we know so far.
What happened?
Police were called to the school at just after 8.20am (2.20pm UK time) after witnesses reported hearing semi-automatic gunfire at the pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school.
The shooting happened during a mass for all year groups, coming during the first week of term.
Police chief Mr O’Hara said the shooter – armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol – approached the side of the church and fired dozens of rounds.
He called the attack in Minnesota a “deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping”.
He also said a wooden plank had been used to barricade some side doors.
Authorities found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene, Mr O’Hara said.
The FBI said it is investigating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism” and a “hate crime targeting Catholics”.
What we know about the suspect
Police said they believed the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the site’s car park.
Mr O’Hara said the suspect had been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman.
Westman is believed to have acted alone in the attack and had lawfully purchased the rifle, pistol, and shotgun used.
He added Westman had scheduled a manifesto to be released on YouTube and that it “appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings”.
He said the content was taken down with the assistance of the FBI.
Asked about a motive, Mr O’Hara said he had no information to share other than the manifesto that was scheduled to come out on YouTube.
“I cannot confirm a relationship between the suspect or his family and the church at this time, but that’s obviously something we’re looking very closely at,” he added.
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What do we know about the victims?
The two children killed have not yet been named publicly.
The others injured included 14 children and three adults in their 80s, according to police.
After the incident the main trauma hospital in Minneapolis, Hennepin Healthcare, received 11 patients, including nine children – aged six to 14 – and two adults, emergency medicine chair Dr Thomas Wyatt said.
He said seven of the patients were critically injured and that four had been taken to operating rooms.
Children’s Minnesota, a paediatric trauma hospital, said in a statement that five children were admitted.
In a later update, Mr O’Hara said all of those injured in the shooting were expected to survive.
‘It seemed like it went on for eternity’
Bill Bienemann, a witness to the shooting, told Sky News it went on “for several minutes – a long time for live gunfire”.
“I know what gunfire sounds like, and I was shocked,” he added. “I said there’s no way that could be gunfire, there was so much of it.
“It seemed like a rifle, it certainly didn’t sound like a handgun, so he must have reloaded several times.”
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His daughter Alexandra, who attended the school for nine years, added: “It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that there’s probably people I know that are injured or maybe have been killed.
“It doesn’t make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been a part of for so long.
“Me and my friends were talking, and we said this is like our version of 9/11.”
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Madee Brandt, a nanny who works near the shooting scene, pulled into the area just as police arrived and children fled.
“I was thankful to see kids coming out unharmed, safe, but just [seeing] the looks on some of their faces… just the screams coming from the mums who didn’t know where their kids are,” Brandt told reporters.
“You see videos online, but it does not compare to seeing it and witnessing it in person. That was rough.”
Mayor calls shooting ‘unspeakable act’
At a news conference, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said the shooting was an “unspeakable act”.
“Children are dead,” he said. “There are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.”
He said the community didn’t just want prayers, adding: “These kids were literally praying, it was the first week of school.
“They were in a church, these are kids that should be learning with their friends.”
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‘Deeply unsettling’
Later, he called for action on gun violence, saying: “I think the impetus has to be on all of us as leaders to do a whole lot more to recognise that we’ve got more guns in this country than we have people.”
Minnesota governor Tim Walz added children at the school had been met with “evil and horror and death”.
Responding to the reports, US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social: “I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation.”
Minneapolis Police were already investigating three deadly shootings in the space of 12 hours.
“The level of gun violence across the city within the last day is deeply unsettling,” the Minneapolis Police Department said.
