A shooting at a school in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 others injured is being investigated as an anti-Catholic hate crime, the FBI says.
The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X.
The two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed when an attacker opened fire through the windows of the city's Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning as children were celebrating Mass.
The attacker, who died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was later named by police as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, was among those who paid tribute to the young victims, expressing his profound sadness over the attack.
Police Chief Brian O'Hara described the incident as a deliberate act of violence against innocent children, condemning the attack as incomprehensible.
The FBI is assisting the Minneapolis Police Department with the investigation, which aims to determine the shooter’s motives; however, this information has not yet been disclosed.
The attack occurred just before 08:00 local time and involved the shooter firing dozens of rounds into the church, using a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, as well as deploying a smoke bomb.
Eyewitness accounts detail the chaos, with one resident recalling the sound of gunfire and realizing it was a shooting.
In a heartfelt moment, a 10-year-old boy, a survivor, recounted how his friend saved him by shielding him during the shooting, while other community members expressed their shock and sorrow.
The situation, according to Governor Tim Walz, reflects a broader epidemic of violence affecting communities, expressing hope that tragedies like this may soon come to an end.
