An armed man dressed in black killed two children and wounded another 17 people on Wednesday when he opened fire against students who attended Mass at a Catholic School in Minneapolis, authorities said.
The assailant, a man in his 20s, shot dozens of rounds through the church windows and then took his life, the authorities said. I was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a gun, they said.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people who love. Cruelty and cowardice to shoot a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” said Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara, journalists.
The shooting occurred two days after the school began in Annunciation Catholic School, a private primary school with about 395 students, connected to a Roman Catholic Church in a residential area in the southeast part of the largest city in Minnesota.
Local television showed the parents crouching under crime tape of the yellow police and leading students out of school.
The authorities said the shooter did not have an extensive criminal history. They did not provide their name and said they were trying to identify a reason. Police were investigating multiple online videos to determine if they were published by the shooter, according to two sources that spoke on condition of anonymity.
Local hospitals said they were treating 15 children and two adults, and many suffered gunshot wounds.
School shootings occur regularly in the US. There have been more than 140 incidents of this type so far this year, depending on the shooting database of the K-12 school.
“Not only do you say this is about thoughts and prayers at this time. These children were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church,” said Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, at a press conference, visibly angry.
Previously, the police and the paramedics responded to an active shooter situation in a church, Local News reported, citing the Minneapolis Police Department.
“There is no active threat to the community at this time. The shooter is contained,” said the city of Minneapolis in X.
The shooting occurred in the Annunciation Church, which is also the home of a grammar school.
“Children’s families at school can go to the reunification zone at the Annunciation School,” the city said in second place in X.
Meanwhile, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, said in an X post that he had been informed about the shooting and would continue to provide updates.
“I am praying for our children and teachers whose first week of school was tarnished by this horrible act of violence,” said Walz, without providing details about possible victims.
Later, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, said in a publication about Truth Social that he had been completely informed about the incident and that the White House “will continue to monitor the terrible situation.”
“The FBI responded quickly and is on the scene,” Trump added. “Please join me to pray for all those involved!”
The confirmed shooting occurs after a wave of false reports of active shooters in the US University Campus. UU. Throughout the country when students return from summer holidays.
