Jan Unstad, a witness of the Minneapolis church shooting scene, described driving by the Annunciation Catholic School and seeing the police response to the deadly incident. Unstad got emotional while describing the inscription over the church that she said reads, “This is the house of God and the gates of Heaven.
Two children, ages 8 and 10, are dead after a shooter opened fire during a morning Mass at Annunciation Catholic School on the south side of Minneapolis. Seventeen other people, including 14 children, were injured.
FBI Director Kash Patel identified the shooter as a male. Legal documents requesting a name change for Westman say they identified as a female. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have at least one firearm from the shooter in their possession, according to an ATF source in Minneapolis.Jan Unstad described driving by Annunciation Catholic School and seeing the police response to the deadly incident. Unstad got emotional as she described the inscription over the church, which she said reads, “This is the house of God and the gates of Heaven.”In statements released on social media, former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton expressed their grief and sadness after today’s mass shooting in Minneapolis. Biden, whose son Beau died in 2015 at age 46, said: “No parent should ever have to bury their child.” “Jill and I are heartbroken and there are simply no words to adequately mark such a horrific and painful moment,” Biden said. “With all our hearts, we are praying for the victims, their families, and the community of Minneapolis.”“What happened today in Minneapolis is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I are praying for the parents who have lost a child or will be sitting at their hospital bedside after yet another act of unspeakable, unnecessary violence,” he said.Clinton said, “I am heartbroken about the young lives lost and the many injured in Minneapolis.” “The start of a new school year should be a chance to celebrate growth and learning — not another painful reminder of the gun violence epidemic that we have failed to end for the sake of our children and grandchildren. I am praying for the healing of the community and our entire country, and hope we find the courage to act,” Clinton said. Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims of the"senseless acts of violence perpetrated on August 27, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minnesota," and he spoke with Gov. Tim Walz after the shooting.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanded leaders take action in the wake of another devastating mass school shooting, saying thoughts and prayers are not enough. “The kids impacted were literally praying at the time of this tragic and horrible shooting,” Frey told NBC News’ Tom Llamas this evening. “It’s on public servants and leaders to not just have words but also have actions that are attached to those words.”“These are sacred places. But these are not the only sacred places. Schools are sacred. Classrooms are sacred. You should be able to send your kid off to enjoy their day without the concern of them having this severe safety risk,” he said.“This is not a moment for hate. This is not a moment for attacks. This is a moment to act, to do something to protect our children, because we love them,” Frey said.Children’s Minnesota said four patients who were admitted to its Minneapolis hospital after today’s mass shooting have been discharged. Three children remain at the facility, the hospital said this afternoon. Seven children in all had been admitted there, ages 9 to 16. “Our thoughts are with all the victims, their families and loved ones in our communities who are impacted by yet another senseless act of violence,” the hospital system said.Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, offered love and support to the Annunciation Catholic School and church community. The Hoffmans were among those targeted in shootings in June that authorities described as"targeted political assassinations." State Rep. Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park and her husband, Mark, were killed in the June shootings. In a family statement, the Hoffmans said they understand firsthand the impact of"these mindless acts of violence and senseless attacks." They added that they are holding the families affected by today's school shooting in their hearts. "The evil actions of an individual can impact the lives of so many, the victims and our community," the statement said.NBC News’ Joe Fryer, who worked in Minneapolis and has family in the area, reports on the people of the parish and the deep roots the Annunciation Catholic School and church have in the Minneapolis community."We are also aware of a manifesto that the shooter had timed to be released on YouTube," Minneapolis Police Chief Brain O’Hara told reporters. The manifesto appeared to show the shooter"at the scene and included some disturbing writings, that content has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI," O'Hara added.Three parishioners in their 80s were among the 17 injured in today's shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters this afternoon. O’Hara said the three were attending Mass at the time of the shooting. The 14 other people wounded were children ranging ages 6 to 15.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey defended the trans community, saying those who direct hate toward trans people have"lost their sense of common humanity." "I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community," Frey told reporters."Anybody who is using this ... as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity." The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman, 23. FBI Director Kash Patel identified them as a male. Documents requesting a name change for Westman say they identified as a female.The Church of Annunciation says its students and staff are navigating an"impossible situation" after the shooting. In its first statement since the shooting, the church commended law enforcement and its staff for acting quickly to protect students. Staff members moved students under pews"within seconds" of the gunfire's breaking out.Some of the wounded have been treated and released, it said. The statement went asked that others"lift up these families and these children in prayer." "In this time of darkness, let us commit to being the Light to our children, each other and our community," it said."We will rebuild our future filled with hope — together."Law enforcement officers visited the suspects home this morning and soon the parents were seen on the sidewalk of this quiet residential street, shoeless, speaking to them, said Stacey Czeck, who lives two doors down from the suspect’s family. Czeck said the suspect’s father and a woman spoke with law enforcement for at least an hour. At one point, she could see the father sit down on the sidewalk and lower his head into his hands. “He was demonstrably upset,” Czeck said. The woman, who also appeared upset, put her hand on the father’s head, she said.She described the family as friendly, with the woman always riding a bike with a basket on it and waving hello. She described them as “family-oriented,” because she heard them on their back porch often. She saw the suspect from time to time but did not have interactions with them. “In these situations, I think your mind always obviously — obviously — goes to the victims and the victims' families. But you know, for me, seeing that, my heart is also going out to them. They just lost their son.”The Annunciation Catholic School shooting will be investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics, FBI Director Kash Patel said.Gov. Tim Walz is ordering all of the U.S. and Minnesota flags at state facilities to fly at half-staff to honor the victims of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting. Private citizens and businesses are also encouraged to lower their flags, according to a release from Walz's office. “Minnesota is heartbroken by the senseless shooting that took place this morning,” Walz said. “I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.”Mayor Jacob Frey and local law enforcement officials are expected to deliver an update at 3:30 p.m. EDT, Minneapolis officials said.Pat Scallen, who lives half a block from the shooting site, told NBC News he ran to the school after hearing gunshots. After he and his wife heard the noise, they thought it might be construction. As the sound continued, they started to think differently."My wife said, 'Those have got to be shots, and they sound like they're coming from the school,'" Scallen recalled. Scallen dropped everything and ran to the school to help."It was eerily quiet when I got there. I did see a rifle magazine on the ground," Scallen told NBC News. Children then started coming out and he saw three injured children. He stayed with them, one boy and two girls who were shot, until EMTs came."I didn't want to leave those kids alone," Scallen said.Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis was sent a telegram today from the Holy See that passed along Pope Leo XIV's condolences following the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School. The telegram was written on behalf of the pontiff by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, according to the Vatican. Parolin wrote that Leo sent"his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child."Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called the deadly Minneapolis shooting an “unspeakable horror” and said her heart breaks for the families and the victims. At least two children are dead and 17 people are injured after a shooter opened fire at the Annunciation Catholic School's church, where Mass was being celebrated.President Donald Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in tribute to the victims of the"senseless acts of violence perpetrated" in Minneapolis.Ellie Mertens, a youth pastor at Annunciation Catholic School, was sitting in a pew next to a window when the shooter was outside and began opening fire. "It was an automatic gun and I was near kids and we all got down," Mertens told NBC News."And it lasted two minutes, and we were able to evacuate."The Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins, the local professional football and baseball teams, released statements expressing heartbreak following this morning's shooting."We are praying for the injured, those who witnessed the attack, and the first responders who were on the scene providing care and support during this tragedy," the NFL team said.Seven children, between ages 9 and 16, were rushed to Children’s Minnesota Hospital. One of those young patients has been discharged. "Our thoughts are with all the victims, their families, and loved ones in our communities who are impacted by yet another senseless act of violence," a hospital statement said.Weston Halsne, a fifth grade student at Annunciation Catholic School, says his friend Victor was shot while lying on top of him during the shooting at their morning Mass. Weston told NBC affiliate KARE that he ran under a pew while shots came through the stained glass windows and covered his head, an active shooting tactic that the school practiced on a regular basis. But Weston added that they had never practiced an active shooter drill in the church. "My friend Victor, like saved me, though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit," the 10-year-old boy said. Victor was taken to the hospital, but Weston believes that"he's OK" hours after the shooting. Weston described his friend as"really brave" and hopes that all the injured people who were taken to the hospital are OK.“As a mom who just sent my little ones back to school and as a woman of faith, I am devastated that yet again children are dead and more are fighting for their lives after being gunned down at school and in a church,” Ferrell-Zabala said in a statement. “How many more of our babies have to die before Congress finally gets these weapons of war off our streets?”The suspect in today's shooting has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, multiple senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.Court documents show Westman filed to change their name in 2019. NBC News has confirmed with those law enforcement officials that the suspect left behind videos posted online with writings that reference suicide,"extremely violent thoughts and ideas," an apology to their family, and a handwritten sketch of the interior layout of a church. It's unclear whether that church was the one at Annunciation Catholic School. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live atOne of the wounded children was taken to M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital and is in stable condition, the hospital said in a statement. "All of us at Fairview Health Services are heartbroken by the tragic shooting in Minneapolis this morning," the Fairview statement said."Our thoughts are with the children, families, educators, and community members impacted by this senseless violence."Brianna Lane, a former Annunciation Catholic School student, described seeing police cars and emergency vehicles pass by on their way to work.Lane, a former student and parishioner at Annunciation, said that the shooting"hits differently when it’s your own community." "This being the first Wednesday, you know, I thought all the kids are probably at Mass," Lane said."And they were”"From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together," Walz wrote in a post on X."Hug your kids close."Andrew Winchell was on his porch preparing to drive his wife to work when he heard a series of piercingly loud noises that lasted for what felt like a full two minutes. "It was this incredibly loud and repeated 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,' then a pause, then another 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.' It just kept going and going," said Winchell, a 42-year-old construction worker and stay-at-home dad. Winchell, who lives about a block away from Annunciation, thought the"pop" noises were too loud to be coming from something like a roofing gun. When he eventually learned that there had been a shooting at Annunciation, he was deeply disturbed. "I can see the bell tower of the church from my house right now," Winchell said in a phone interview."It was all happening right there."Madee Brandt, a nanny who works near the shooting scene, pulled into the neighborhood just as police arrived and children fled. "I was thankful to see kids coming out unharmed, safe, but just the looks on some of their faces ... just the screams coming from the moms 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." Brandt's car is still within the locked-down zone, prompting her mother to come and get her, bringing their dog to the scene for comfort.The other shootings occurred at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Inglewood, California, on May 2; Florida State University in Tallahassee on April 17; Pasadena Memorial High School in Texas on Feb. 1; and Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Jan. 22.Father Erich Rutten, a Roman Catholic priest whose parish is near Annunciation, went inside the school this morning to offer support to families trying to make sense of the tragedy. Rutten told NBC News he saw parents in"great, great anxiety and grief." He saw parents who were"wailing and crying, some stooping to the ground," he said. He hugged the people he recognized from the community. Then he began to pray the rosary, and others joined in.The Rev. Bob Hart, a former interim pastor at Annunciation who left in June after one year, said the deadly violence at the school was"unbelievable" to him. "It's hard to believe this could happen at a Catholic Mass," Hart told NBC News."I'm devastated that this happened at a place I just left two months ago." Hart, 77, described Annunciation as a"very close-knit and very supportive" community where everyone is made to feel welcome. He did not know the identities of the victims, he said. However, he expects to recognize many names if the authorities make that information public.Hennepin Healthcare said it is treating eight pediatric patients and two adults. The hospital initially said at a morning news conference that it had nine pediatric patients. Six children and one adult are in critical condition, the hospital said in a news release. Two other pediatric patients and an adult have non-life-threatening injuries. Dr. Thomas Wyatt, chair of emergency medicine, told reporters that four patients"required the operating room."He did, however, add that something that one might call a smoke bomb was found. O'Hara clarified that it wasn't an explosive, but rather"a sort of firework."Just before 8:30 a.m. local time, authorities say an unidentified shooter approached the side of the church where the Annunciation Catholic School was hosting its morning Mass. The side of the building where the shooter approached had two doors, where it appears 2-by-4 wood planks were placed to barricade the doors from the outside, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. The shooter began firing a rifle through the church windows from the side of the building toward the children who were sitting in the pews, he said. Dozens of children were inside during the Mass at the time. First responders from the police department entered the church to provide first aid and rescue children who were hiding throughout the building, according to O’Hara. The suspect, a man in his 20s, is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the parking lot. Investigators are still processing the scene, but O’Hara said the number of rounds fired appears to be"in the dozens."Police believe the suspect was a lone shooter in his 20s who died of a self-inflicted gunshot in the parking lot.Authorities are still investigating a possible motive, Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters. O'Hara added that it is not yet known whether the suspect legally obtained the firearms or whether they had any extensive criminal history. The father of two children who attend Annunciation was sitting at work when he got a text message from his wife. She said there was a shooting at the school, and only one of his sons had been located. "I immediately left work," Tyler, the father, told NBC News outside the school."I was a nervous wreck. I was just shocked and in disbelief that this was happening at Annunciation. I couldn't get here quick enough.""During the Mass, a gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the Mass," the chief said.O’Hara said that 14 of the injured were children. The shooter was armed with a shotgun, a rifle and a pistol, O'Hara said. He described it as an"incomprehensible" act of cowardice.Children were killed today after a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School morning Mass, Mayor Jacob Frey confirmed to reporters.Peter Alexander A White House official told NBC News that President Donald Trump spoke to Gov. Tim Walz following today’s shooting.Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were some of the very first responders to the scene because they just happened to be in the area of the shooting, according to an ATF source in Minneapolis. The bureau has at least one firearm in its possession from the shooter, and they are beginning the tracing protocol, the source added.Mike Garrity was walking home from the gym this morning when he heard a series of loud noises that he initially thought were coming from a nail gun at a construction site.Garrity, 64, who lives across the street from Annunciation, saw about a dozen crying children stream out of the school. At least three of them were covered in blood, he said. He also saw adults who appeared to be members of the faculty or staff."Don't go in there," one of them said. Six children are being treated at Children’s Minnesota, a hospital spokesperson said, declining to release further details. "Children’s Minnesota is aware of the recent tragic shooting in Minneapolis. Our teams are trained to respond in times of crisis, and are fully prepared to care for impacted children," the hospital said in a statement."We will not share more details to respect the privacy of our patients and families."Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told MSNBC that she had spoken to one of her longtime employees who had three children in the school during the shooting. The senator described the call with the mother as"one of the most upsetting things I've ever heard." The woman's daughter, who is in the seventh grade, watched her friends be shot. "These kids are doing an all-school Mass and had to watch several of her friends get shot — one in the back, one in the neck," Klobuchar said."And they all got down under the pews and she — her daughter, of course, was not shot — but her daughter ended up being the one to tell one of the dads of one of the other kids that his daughter had been shot." Klobuchar added that the children have been taken to a"very good" children's hospital nearby and to other area hospitals for treatment. She did not have exact numbers.The scene is emotional at the school, with parents in tears as they rush out of the campus carrying children on their shoulders, holding them by the hands, and pulling them away as quickly as possible. Parents were told they could be reunited with their children in the school's basement, said Erin, a mother who only gave her first name.The suspect in the Minneapolis shooting died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to three law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation.There was an"All-School Mass" scheduled for 8:15 a.m. local time this morning, according to the calendar on the Annunciation Church and school’s website.St. Thomas More Catholic School in Minneapolis said it is keeping students and staff inside"pending further details about this developing situation." "Our hearts and prayers are with the students, teachers, and community at Annunciation Catholic School in South Minneapolis," the school said in a"The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform."The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!""We are in communication with our interagency partners, and will share more information as soon as it becomes available," Secretary Kristi Noem said in aBefore today's school shooting, there were three deadly shootings in Minneapolis in 12 hours, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. "The level of gun violence across the city within the last day is deeply unsettling," the Minneapolis Police Department said in aThe attack at Annunciation Church would be the fourth deadly shooting in Minneapolis in less than 24 hours. In the most recent shooting, one man was killed and another injured at 2:08 a.m. in downtown Minneapolis.Annunciation Catholic School was founded in 1923 as a place for students to learn about"Christian values and civic-mindedness," according to a cached version of the school's website. “You’ll find teachers, parents, staff and students who truly value education and faith-based learning, and you’ll see those values in action in each of our classrooms,” the school says on its website.on X just before 10:30 a.m. ET that the shooter is contained and"there is no active threat to the community at this time."Minyvonne Burke "FBI is aware of the reports coming out of @FBIMinneapolis and our agents are en route to the scene," FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in aMinneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he is"monitoring reports of horrific violence in South Minneapolis," and the emergency response team has been activated."There is an active shooter here in Minneapolis right now, an unknown amount of victims at a church and school," Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said today. "EMS has requested mass casualty. ... If any of you are doctors or otherwise first responders that could help — it seems to be a fairly significant shooting," said Martin, who is the former head of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and is in Minneapolis for a DNC convention.The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in St. Paul said it was responding to reports of an active shooter at the church.Minneapolis Gov. Tim Walz posted on X today that he has been"briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and will continue to provide updates as we get more information." "The BCA and State Patrol are on scene," Walz added."I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence."
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