‘For the children’: Ominous message written on ammunition before shooter took aim at school Mass

Minneapolis: A shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis and struck children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 17 people in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible”.

Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman approached the side of the Annunciation Catholic School church just before 8.30 am on Wednesday, Minnesota time. The shooter fired dozens of rounds through the windows, toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said.

The children who died were aged eight and 10. Fourteen other children and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the police chief said.

The shooter – who died by suicide after the attack – had written messages on a rifle magazine, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.

“This deranged monster targeted our most vulnerable: young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year. This deeply sick murderer scrawled the words ‘For the Children’ and ‘Where is your God?’ and ‘Kill Donald Trump’ on a rifle magazine,” she said in post on social media.

O’Hara said it 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,” he said.

Officials referred to Westman as a male at news conferences. Court records show Westman’s name was changed from Robert in 2020 on the grounds that Westman identified as female.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the incident should not be used as an excuse to persecute other transgender people.

“Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainise our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity,” he said at a news conference.

On Wednesday evening, hundreds prayed, wiped away tears and held each other during a packed vigil at a nearby school’s gym where Governor Tim Walz and US Senator Amy Klobuchar, along with Catholic clergy, joined the mourners.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda talked about the inscription at the front of the Annunciation Church that reads: “House of God and the gate of heaven.”

“How is it that such a terrible tragedy could take place in a place that’s the house of God and the gate of heaven?” he asked. “It’s unthinkable.”

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

The steady drumbeat of shootings has prompted new safety measures and provided grist for ongoing debates about gun laws.

Officials said the shooter fired dozens of rounds, using a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, which were all purchased legally. They said they had recovered additional firearms at other residences connected to Westman. Police vehicles were stationed at a house identified by public records as Westman’s residence, several kilometres south of the school.

Law enforcement officials said they were examining an online manifesto. On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the suspected shooter released at least two videos before the channel was taken down by site administrators on Wednesday.

One shows a cache of weapons and ammunition, some with phrases such as “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” written on them.

A second video shows the alleged shooter pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife. It was unclear when that video was uploaded to the channel.

At the time of the shooting, at least two of the church doors had been barricaded from the outside using wooden planks, O’Hara said.

The police chief said officers immediately responded to reports of the shooting, entered the church, rendered first aid and rescued some of the children hiding throughout the building.

Annunciation’s principal Matt DeBoer said teachers and children, too, responded heroically. “Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children,” he said.

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.”

Halsne’s grandfather, Michael Simpson, said the violence during Mass left him wondering whether God was watching over. “I don’t know where He is,” Simpson said.

Public records showed Westman’s mother, Mary Westman, had worked as an administrative assistant at Annunciation Church. Relatives contacted by Reuters declined to comment.

Officials said Westman did not have a criminal record and appeared to have acted alone. They said they did not know of a motive for the crime.

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

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

Authorities said 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.

Minneapolis has experienced a significant rise in homicides following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, which prompted nationwide civil disturbances and staffing shortages in the city’s police department.

Minnesota also experienced an outburst of political violence in May, when a gunman posing as a police officer killed the Democratic state House speaker and her husband and wounded a Democratic state senator and his wife, in what authorities said were targeted assassinations. The suspect has pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges.

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Reuters, AP

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