A shooting at a school in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 others injured is being investigated as an anti-Catholic hate crime, the FBI says.
The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.
The two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed when an attacker opened fire through the windows of the city's Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning as children were celebrating Mass.
The attacker, who died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was named by police as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
Pope Leo XIV expressed his profound sadness over the attack, and local police described it as a deliberate act of violence against innocent children. The investigation is ongoing, with officials yet to release a motive.
According to eyewitness accounts, shots rang out before 8:00 a.m. local time, as the assailant approached the church and fired dozens of shots. Authorities are examining whether all shots were fired from outside or if some originated inside.
One child who survived remarked about his friend saving him by covering him, despite being injured himself.
The community is grieving, and the governor has drawn attention to the frequency of such violence nationally, hoping for changes to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
