Pallade Veneta - Gunman kills two children in Minneapolis church, injures 17 others

City police chief Brian O'Hara told a media briefing that the attacker sprayed bullets into the Annunciation Church as dozens of students were at a Mass marking their first week back to school.

The church sits next to an affiliated Catholic school in southern Minneapolis, the largest city in the Midwestern state of Minnesota.

"Two young children, ages eight and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews," O'Hara said, adding that 17 people were injured, including 14 children.

Two were in critical condition, he said.

The gunman fired a rifle, shotgun and pistol before dying by suicide in the parking lot, according to the police chief.

He said the shooter was 23, did not have an extensive criminal history and was believed to have acted alone.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel later identified the shooter as "Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman."

Patel posted on X that the FBI was investigating the shooting as "an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics."

Videos reportedly posted online by Westman showed a multi-page manifesto, and names and drawings of firearms.

The attack drew condemnation and expressions of grief from many including President Donald Trump, who directed that US flags at the White House be lowered to half-staff.

Pope Leo XIV -- the first American to head the Catholic Church -- said he was "profoundly saddened" by the tragedy.

Two adults and nine children, aged six to 14, were being treated at the Hennepin County Medical Center, doctors said, with at least four people requiring immediate surgery.

"Minnesota is heartbroken," Governor Tim Walz wrote on X.

"From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together," he said, adding: "Hug your kids close."

Video footage from outside a police cordon showed panicked parents hurrying away with their young children dressed in a school uniform of green polo shirts.

- A country of school shootings -

Witnesses and survivors told of a harrowing scene with the shooter dressed in black and wearing a ski mask opening fire, and children hiding in church pews.

"It was very scary... We just got in the pews and he shot through the stained-glass windows," a fifth-grade boy who survived the attack told local Fox 9 television station.

The boy said a friend was "laying on top of me... making sure I was safe, and he got hit. So that was really brave of him."

The mass shooting is the latest in a long line of deadly school attacks in the United States, where guns outnumber people and attempts to restrict access to firearms face perennial political deadlock.

This year, there have been at least 287 mass shootings -- defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded -- across the country, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

At least 16,700 people were killed in US firearms violence last year, not including suicides.

Among the many shocking school shootings was a rampage in 2022 when an 18-year-old gunman stormed a Uvalde, Texas elementary school and opened fire, killing 19 students and two teachers.

- 'Don't just say... thoughts and prayers' -

"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. These are kids that should be learning with their friends," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters.

"They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence."

A White House official said Trump had quickly spoken with Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last year's election.

Wednesday's shooting comes amid a wave of false reports of active shooters that have provoked panic at several US college campuses.

A.Fallone--PV