FBI Probes Minneapolis School Shooting as Potential Hate Crime Against Catholics

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Two children were killed and 17 other people were wounded at a Minneapolis Catholic school when a shooter opened fire on students attending a church service on the third day of school, authorities said.

The assailant fired through the chapel windows at students during mass at the Annunciation Catholic School and then took his own life, officials said. The children killed were 8 and 10 years old, they said.

“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” Minneapolis Police chief Brian O’Hara told reporters.

FBI director Kash Patel said the case was being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.

The shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, a private elementary school with about 395 students, was the 146th such incident since January in the United States, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.

What we know about the attacker

Patel identified the attacker as Robin Westman, who, according to public records, was a 23-year-old resident of the area. Court records show Westman’s name was changed from Robert Westman in 2020 on the grounds that they identified as female.

Officials said the shooter did not have an extensive criminal history and said they were still trying to identify a motive.

Public records showed Westman’s mother, Mary Westman, had worked as an administrative assistant at the Annunciation Church.

A crowd gathered outside a church after a shooting incident. There's a row of vehicles in the foreground.

Minnesota as a whole has a gun death rate below the national average, according to a gun violence prevention group, Everytown for Gun Safety. Source: AP / Bruce Kluckhohn

How the attack unfolded

Officials said the shooter fired dozens of rounds, using a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. At least two of the chapel doors had been barricaded from the outside using planks, O’Hara said.

Local hospitals said they were treating 14 children and two adults, with many suffering gunshot wounds.

Fifth grader Weston Halsne told CBS News his friend was hit by a bullet while trying to protect him.

“The shots were like, right next to me,” Halsne said. “I think I got like gunpowder on my neck.”

Officials said they found a smoke bomb at the scene and were searching a vehicle in the parking lot.

The investigation so far

Police vehicles were stationed at a house identified by public records as Westman’s residence, several kilometres south of the school.

Law enforcement was investigating multiple online videos posted by the shooter, according to one law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

The attack did not appear to be related to three other shootings over the past 24 hours in Minneapolis, including one at a Jesuit high school, that left three people dead.

Public response to the attack

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference: “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.”

US President Donald Trump ordered the US flag to be flown at half-staff nationwide as a sign of mourning.

Flags lowered to half-mast on the White House roof.

Flags were lowered to half-mast at the White House for the victims of the shooting. Source: PA, ABACA / Pool

Pope Leo XIV said he was “profoundly saddened” by the shooting incident.

The pontiff — the first American to head the Catholic Church — sent his condolences to “those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child”, according to a statement put out by the Vatican.