School Shooting Minneapolis Live: Robin Westman Reported As Suspect

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What you need to know

Two children, aged eight and ten, were killed and 17 people were injured in a shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Fourteen of the injured are children, ranging in age from six to 14 years old. Two of them were in critical condition

The gunman, in his early twenties, died from self-inflicted injuries

The suspect was identified as Robin Westman, 23, according to law enforcement sources quoted by NBC and CBS

President Trump has been briefed on shooting and said the White House would monitor “this terrible situation”

Multiple casualties after Minneapolis gunman opens fire on church full of children
School is ‘enmeshed in community’

The timing of the attack coincided with the return to class for the students of Annunciation Catholic School after a weeks-long summer break.

Annunciation Catholic, a grammar school for children aged four through 12, was founded in 1923 as a place for students to learn about “Christian values and civic-mindedness”, according to its website.

Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic senator for Minnesota, said many residents of the city had ties to the school.

“One of the things that people nationally don’t understand is that this school is enmeshed in our community,” Klobuchar said. “There’s shops, people. There’s a neighbourhood. And that whole community suffers.”
Shooter changed his name in 2019
Robin Westman

Robin Westman

ABC 5/UNPIXS

The alleged gunman’s mother applied to change his name from Robert Westman to Robin Westman in 2019, according to reports.

The Star Tribune, a local newspaper in Minneapolis, said the change in name was requested because the suspect identified as female, citing court records.

According to the application, Westman “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification”.

His mother had to finalise the change because Westman was a minor at the time.
Trump orders flags to be lowered

President Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in tribute to the victims of the “senseless acts of violence perpetrated” in Minneapolis.
US had 286 mass shootings this year

There have been 286 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

A mass shooting event is defined as an incident in which four or more people are shot dead, excluding the gunman.

Two deaths have been confirmed so far from today’s shooting. Two further victims remain in a critical condition, police say.

The deadliest school shooting in US history is the Virginia Tech massacre, which occurred on April 16, 2007, when a gunman killed 32 students and staff before shooting himself.
Suspect’s videos show gun magazines

Police are investigating whether a series of YouTube videos shared online hours before the shooting are connected to the alleged gunman, it has been reported.

The videos show multiple weapons and gun magazines laid out in a row, as well as a notebook that appears to detail the internal layout of a church, according to the New York Post.
“Where is your God?” was written on one of the magazines

“Where is your God?” was written on one of the magazines

YOUTUBE

A series of messages are written onto the magazines in a white pen, including “for the children” and “kill Donald Trump”, screen grabs from the video indicate.

The suspected gunman in the Minneapolis school shooting has been identified as Robin Westman, 23, according to reports by NBC News, CBS and the New York Post.

The news outlets quoted multiple senior law enforcement officials who confirmed Westman’s identity.

Police have said publicly that the suspect is in their early twenties with a limited criminal history.

The suspect was reported to have left behind multiple videos posted on YouTube with notes that referred to suicide, “extremely violent thoughts and ideas” and a hand-written sketch of the interior layout of a church. It was not confirmed whether that church was the one at Annunciation Catholic School.
‘Minnesota is heartbroken’
Parents were comforting their children outside Annunciation Church

Parents were comforting their children outside Annunciation Church

ALEX KORMANN/STAR TRIBUNE/AP

Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, said parents should “hug your kids close” after the shooting.

In a post on X he wrote: “Minnesota is heartbroken. From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together. Hug your kids close.”
Daughter of senator’s employee among witnesses

Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic senator for Minnesota, has said that the daughter of one of her former employees witnessed the shooting.

She told CNN that the girl “literally watched her friends — some of her best friends — be shot, one in the neck, one in the stomach”.

It was then up to the girl to tell her friend’s father what happened, she added.

“I think this image of this gunman shooting through these windows, picking off these kids while they’re praying, is something that is going to be with people for a long time,” Klobuchar said.
Nine children and two adults in hospital

Thomas Wyatt, head of emergency medicine at the Hennepin County Medical Centre, said he had 11 patients from the shooting at his hospital.

Of these, seven were in a critical condition and four needed surgery, Wyatt said. Nine were children and two were adults.

He added that he was aware of non-critical patients being taken to other hospitals.
Shooting was ‘act of evil’
Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, on the steps of the Annunciation Church school

Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, on the steps of the Annunciation Church school

ABBIE PARR/AP

Jacob Frey, the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, described the shooting as an “act of evil”.

“Children are dead, there are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put in words the tragedy, gravity and absolute pain of this situation,” he said.

“Do not think of these as just somebody else’s kids. Think of this as if it were your own.”

In reference to comments by Trump and Vance, he added: “Don’t just say ‘thoughts and prayers’ right now — these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church.

“This kind of act of evil should never happen but it happens far too often.”
In pictures: parents await news and families reunite
Families reunite behind police tape after a shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis.
Parents embrace outside Annunciation School in Minneapolis following a school shooting.

RICHARD TSONG-TAATARII/STAR TRIBUNE/AP

ALEX KORMANN/STAR TRIBUNE/AP

RICHARD TSONG-TAATARII/STAR TRIBUNE/AP
Gunman was armed with three weapons

Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, said the gunman took his own life in the parking lot of the church after shooting through the church windows.
Brian O’Hara and Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, at the press conference on Wednesday

Brian O’Hara and Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, at the press conference on Wednesday

CRAIG LASSIG/EPA

He said the gunman approached the church building via the side as children were taking part in a Mass to mark the first week of school.

“During the Mass a gunman approached on the outside of the building and fired a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews,” he said.

He added that the suspect was armed with a rifle, shotgun and a pistol. Police believe he fired all three using dozens of rounds.

“The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing in a church full of children is incomprehensible,” he said.
He said it was believed that the gunmen did not enter the building because no bullet casing was found inside.

Police entered the church to find children hiding and administered first aid to those wounded, he added.
Suspect was in his early twenties
Police dogs search nearby gardens after the shooting

Police dogs search nearby gardens after the shooting

TIME EVANS/REUTERS
Police outside the church

Police outside the church

MARK VANCLEAVE/AP

The gunman was in his early twenties and does not have an extensive known criminal history, Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, told a press conference.

He said a motive was being established and it was not known if he was former pupil at the school.
Two children were killed

Two children, aged eight and ten, were killed where they were sitting in the church pews, Minneapolis police confirmed.

Seventeen people were injured, 14 of them children. Two children are in a critical condition.
Six children in hospital
Police gathered outside the school

Police gathered outside the school

ABBIE PARR/AP

There are six children being treated in a local hospital after the primary school shooting in Minneapolis, according to authorities.

Children’s Minnesota hospital, about five miles from the school, said this afternoon that they would not release more details to respect the privacy of victims.

In a statement they said: “Children’s Minnesota is aware of the recent tragic shooting in Minneapolis. Our teams are trained to respond in times of crisis, and are fully prepared to care for impacted children.

“Currently, six children are admitted to our hospital for care. We will not share more details to respect the privacy of our patients and families.”
Vance: White House is monitoring situation

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Shooting took place day after return from summer break

The shooting at a Minneapolis primary school on Wednesday took place only one day after pupils returned to the school from their summer break.

On Tuesday, Annunciation Catholic School posted a series of photos on their social media welcoming children back to school.

“Happy first day of school! It was great having everyone back in the building today,” they wrote, adding that all their pupils’ futures were “filled with hope”.

The shooting took place at the church which is also home to the school.
Death toll of two and gunman himself

Two people were killed and about 20 injured at a shooting at a Minneapolis school on Wednesday, a justice department official has said.

The gunman also died from a self-inflicted wound.
Where did the shooting take place?
Two children killed, witness claims

A parent who was attending the Mass at the church told the Minnesota Star Tribute that students were packed into the pews when a gunman opened fire outside the building with some kind of semi-automatic weapon.

“He just pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots,” said the father, who did not want his name used. “He killed two kids.”

“This is terrible,” he said. ”This is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this.”
Trump briefed on ‘tragic shooting’

President Trump has said he is praying for everyone who has been caught up in the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis.

He wrote on Truth Social that he has been “fully briefed on the tragic shooting”, adding that the FBI were quickly on the scene.

There has yet to be any confirmation of how many people were involved or if there were casualties. A news conference with the mayor of Minneapolis will be held shortly.

Pictures from the scene show a Swat car and other police officers surrounding the premises.