Officers arrange obstacles after a capturing at Annunciation Church, which can be house to a an elementary faculty, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. Aug. 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer | Reuters
A gunman killed two younger kids and injured 17 folks gathered at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis for a service on Wednesday to mark the primary week of the parish’s faculty, police mentioned.
Fourteen of the injured are kids, two of whom are in important situation, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara mentioned at a information convention.
The kids who died had been 8 and 10 years outdated, O’Hara mentioned.
The shooter is useless from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, he mentioned.
The assault occurred simply earlier than 8:30 a.m. native time, as the youngsters attended the service on the church.
The gunman, armed with a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun, and clad in black cargo-style pants, positioned himself on the skin of the constructing and started firing by home windows towards the youngsters, who had been sitting in pews.
The shooter, who’s in his 20s and doesn’t have an in depth prison historical past, is believed to have acted alone, O’Hara mentioned.
The chief mentioned he was not conscious if the shooter was a former worker or pupil of Annunciation.
“The sheer cruelty and cowardice, the firing right into a church full of youngsters, is totally incomprehensible,” O’Hara mentioned.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey mentioned: “Do not simply say that is about ideas and prayers proper now. These children had been actually praying!”
“There are not any phrases that may seize the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act,” Frey mentioned.
Dad and mom await information of their kids’s standing after capturing at Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning, Aug. 27, 2025 in Minneapolis.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii | The Minnesota Star Tribune | Getty Photographs
“Don’t consider these as simply any individual else’s children. These households are struggling immense ache proper now. Consider this as if it had been your individual,” the mayor added.
Victims have been admitted to 2 totally different hospitals. The 9 kids being handled at Hennepin Healthcare Hospital are between 6 and 14 years outdated, the hospital mentioned at a information convention.
Earlier than the shooter was declared contained, Gov. Tim Walz mentioned that he had been briefed on the capturing and that he was “praying for our children and academics whose first week of faculty was marred by this horrific act of violence.”
President Donald Trump spoke to Walz after the capturing, a White Home official instructed NBC.
Trump “referred to as to supply his condolences to the folks of Minnesota and Governor Walz thanked him for the assist,” a supply aware of the decision instructed NBC.
Trump wrote on Fact Social later Wednesday morning, “I’ve been absolutely briefed on the tragic capturing in Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
“The FBI rapidly responded and they’re on the scene. The White Home will proceed to watch this horrible state of affairs. Please be a part of me in praying for everybody concerned!” Trump wrote.
Legislation enforcement officers collect outdoors the Annunciation Church’s faculty in response to a reported mass capturing, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis.
Mark Vancleave | AP
Minnesota’s U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, thanked first responders and expressed grief over the violence.
“It is the primary week of faculty. These children shouldn’t be fearing for his or her lives,” Smith wrote.
