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A mass shooting during a school-wide Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in southwest Minneapolis left two children and the gunman dead and 17 others injured Wednesday morning, authorities said.
The attack occurred around 8:30 a.m. CDT as students and faculty from Annunciation Catholic School gathered for their weekly liturgy. Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter, described as a man in his early 20s dressed in black, opened fire from outside the church, discharging between 50 and 100 rounds through stained-glass windows. He was armed with a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol before taking his own life in the church parking lot.
Authorities confirmed that two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed in the pews. Seventeen other people were injured, including 14 children. Seven of the victims were listed in critical condition, and four required surgery at Hennepin County Medical Center. Emergency dispatch audio described multiple children suffering gunshot wounds to the head.
O’Hara said doors at the church appeared to have been barred from the outside, limiting escape routes. Federal agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives responded to the scene. Early reports of explosives proved unfounded, although the assailant carried a device resembling a smoke grenade. The city issued an all-clear alert just after 10:30 a.m.
Officials did not immediately release the suspect’s name. Investigators stated that he had ties to Minneapolis and the surrounding areas, but had no known criminal record. Authorities have not determined whether he had any connection to the school. O’Hara called the attack “cowardly” and said police believe the man acted alone.
The shooting occurred during the first week of the new school year at Annunciation Catholic School, which enrolls approximately 340 students in grades pre-kindergarten through eighth. The school, founded in 1923 by Dominican Sisters, has been a fixture in the southwest Minneapolis parish community for more than a century. It is recognized as an International Baccalaureate World School and has maintained a sister-school relationship in Léogâne, Haiti, since 1998.
The attack marked the second mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school in two days. On Tuesday, a gunman killed one man and injured six others behind Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.
Local and federal authorities continue to investigate the Annunciation attack, including the gunman’s motive and how he obtained his weapons.