Image source, Getty Images
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- Author, Hafsa Khalil
- Author's title, BBC News
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A shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, has left two dead children and 17 people injured, according to US authorities.
The attack occurred shortly before 08:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Wednesday at the Church of the Annuations Catholic School, where the children were celebrating a mass.
The attacker died in the place for a self -inflicted gunshot wound.
The FBI is investigating the incident as a hate crime directed against Catholics.
“The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of internal terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics,” said FBI director Kash Patel, in an X publication.
A constant flow of people arrived at the scene on Wednesday night, some wearing flowers.
There was a feeling of shock and anger about the fact that the shooting had occurred at the beginning of a mass in a church in which the new school period was inaugurated.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, was among those who paid tribute to the young victims and said he was “deeply sad” by the attack.
Who is the alleged attacker, Robin Westman?
The attacker has been identified as Robin Westman, 23, of a minneapolis suburb.
His motivations are currently unknown.
Dressed completely black, she approached one side of the school church and fired dozens of shots through the windows with three firearms: a rifle, a shotgun and a gun.
The police also found a smoke bomb in the place.
The authorities are investigating whether the suspicion shot inside the center or if all the shots came from outside. They pointed out that they did not find bullet caps inside.
The Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara said that the attacker did not have “important known criminal records” and that he acted alone.
Police found a “manifesto” that the suspect scheduled to be published on YouTube during the shooting. The FBI collaborated with the authorities and withdrew it from the platform.
Laatacante's mother, Mary Grace Westman, used to work at school, according to a 2016 school bulletin. A publication on Facebook points out that she retired from office in 2021.
Westman legally changed his name from Robert to Robin in 2020, as stated in the judicial records of Minnesota.
In the request, the judge wrote: “The child identifies as a woman and wants her name to reflect her identification.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, rejected the hatred directed towards the transgender community due to the attack.
In her own updates, the Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, said that Westman was a “man who said he was transgender”, and in his publication in X, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, referred to Westman as “a man.”
Image source, YouTube/Reuters
Who are the victims?
Two children, eight and ten years old, died. Seventeen people were injured, 14 of them minors.
The three adults who were injured were parishioners between 80 and 89, said O'Hara.
Thomas Wyatt, president of Emergency Medicine at the Hennepin County Medical Center, said seven children between 6 and 14 years were transferred to the hospital where they work and were critical. Four of them needed surgery.
Patients who were not in critical states were transferred to other hospitals.
It is expected that all victims who were injured survive, according to the authorities.
O'Hara said the police department was “shattered by the families that have lost their children”, as well as the young lives that “fight to recover” and for “the entire community that has been so deeply traumatized by this meaningless attack.”
A 10 -year -old boy who survived the attack told the local television network WCCOpartner of CBSthat a friend saved him from the bullets to sleep on him.
“I was two vitral seats,” he said. “But my friend Victor saved me, threw himself on me, but received an impact.”
“They gave my friend on his back and took him to the hospital … I was very afraid for him, but I think it's fine now,” he said.
“These were Minneapolis families,” Mayor Jacob Frey said during an informative session. “They were American families, and the pain they are suffering right now is immense.”
In a clear reference to what some perceive as political responses to the mass shootings, Frey, who is a Democrat, said: “Do not say that right now it is just 'thoughts and prayers'. These guys were literally praying.”
The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, said that President Donald Trump and his team expressed their “deep condolences” and offered help.
He added that the situation was “too common, not only in Minnesota, but throughout the country,” and added that he hoped that no community or school had to go through a day like this.
Trump later said the US flag would wave half a state in the White House as a sample of respect for the victims.
What is the Annunciation School?
The Catholic School Annunciation teach for students from preschool (children's level) to eighth grade (14 years of age), according to its website.
It is located in a residential area of southern Minneapolis.
The teaching approach to the Catholic School is that of a faith -based learning.
The school added that religion “forces” it to interact with its local community. It also has a sister school in Haiti.
The director of the Matt Debeer Educational Center spoke at a press conference on Wednesday and began his comments saying: “I love them, I'm very sorry that this happened today.”
He thanked the supporters for their thoughts and prayers and asked people to “pray with our feet” (show faith with actions) to take measures against future shootings.
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