UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. ET Aug. 27
Police sources have identified the perpetrator of the mass shooting at Annunciation Church and Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as 23-year-old “Robin” Westman, formerly known as Robert Westman before a legal name change in 2020.
Officials told KARE 11 that Westman’s mother was a school employee. Court documents cited by the local news outlet show that Westman applied for a legal name change in Dakota County at the age of 17.
Original:
At least two children have died and over a dozen are injured after a shooting on Wednesday morning at a Catholic private school in Minnesota. The alleged perpetrator is among the dead after taking his own life, police say.
Authorities responded to reports of a shooter at Annunciation Church and Catholic School in Minneapolis, which occurred around the time that students were at weekly mass.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference that it was “an unthinkable tragedy” that occurred during the first week of school. A gunman believed to be in his 20s fired through the church windows, hitting children and other worshipers, O’Hara said.
Two children, aged 10 and 8, were among the dead. There were 17 other injuries, including 14 children, two of whom were in critical condition.
“The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara said. “The coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church.”
“Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their children, for these young lives that are now fighting to recover, and for our entire community that has been so deeply traumatized by this senseless attack.”
O’Hara didn’t identify the gunman, and a motive is not yet clear. Police do not have information yet to say conclusively if the gunman was a former student or employee of the school or church.
The official X account for the City of Minneapolis tweeted Wednesday morning that there was “an active police situation at Annunciation Church,” whose private school serves kindergarten through eighth grade.
“There is no active threat to the community at this time. The shooter is contained. Stay away from the area to allow emergency personnel to help victims,” tweeted the city.
In a follow-up tweet, the city reported that “families of children at the school can go to the reunification zone at the Annunciation School,” which was located at 525 West 54th Street.
Many of the victims were taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis, while six were taken to Children’s Minnesota, The New York Times notes.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took to his social media to note that he has “been briefed on a shooting at 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,” the former vice presidential hopeful added.
Less than 24 hours before the Annunciation School shooting, another shooting hit Cristo Rey Jesuit High School of Minneapolis, in which one man was dead and six others were wounded.
St. Paul-based 5 Eyewitness News reported that a suspect stepped out of a vehicle and fired around 30 rounds at a group of people near Cristo Rey before fleeing the scene in a car.
Police don’t believe the two incidents are connected.
