A gunman opened fire Wednesday, August 27, at a church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, adjacent to a school, killing at least two children and wounding 14 others among the schoolchildren gathered for Mass, police said. The suspect, who acted alone, killed himself at the scene.

The shooting occurred in a church adjacent to a Minneapolis school, where students were gathering for Mass to celebrate the start of the school year. The shooter, in his twenties, was carrying three firearms. He killed himself at the scene of the attack, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said at a press conference.

" Two young children, ages 8 and 10, were killed while sitting in the pews of the church ," Brian O'Hara said, adding that 17 people were injured, including 14 children between the ages of 6 and 15. Three parishioners over the age of 80 were also injured. According to Brian O'Hara, all of these injured are expected to survive.

FBI opens investigation into ' anti-Catholic hate crime '

According to US media reports, the shooter has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman. These reports cite court documents from 2019-2020 that indicate a first name change from Robert to Robin for the man who was born male but identified as female. Investigators say the man fired dozens of shots using two rifles and a handgun.

The US federal police, the FBI, has opened an investigation into " domestic terrorism " and an " anti-Catholic hate crime ," announced Kash Patel, head of the agency. The shooter was a former student of the school, he added. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara indicated that the shooter had prepared a manifesto that was to be posted later on the video-sharing site YouTube. The police "removed " it .

A doctor at Hennepin Healthcare said he treated 11 patients, including two adults and nine children. Four of them required emergency surgery. " I pray for our children and teachers, whose first week of school has been marred by this terrible act of violence ," Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wrote earlier in the day on X.

" A senseless attack "

" This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other worshippers. The cruelty and cowardice required to shoot into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible. Our hearts break for the families who lost their children, for the young lives struggling to survive, and for the residents traumatized by this senseless attack ," the police chief added, adding that an investigation was underway.

Donald Trump was informed of the attack. On his Truth Social network, the US president described the shooting as " tragic " and assured that " the White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation ." Pope Leo XIV, in an English-language telegram released by the Vatican, said he was " deeply saddened " and " extends his sincere condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially to the families now mourning the loss of a child ."

With more firearms in circulation than people, the United States has the highest gun-related death rate of any developed country. Mass shootings are a recurring scourge that successive governments have so far failed to stem, with many Americans remaining deeply attached to their guns.