Two children are dead and scores more injured after a gunman armed with a rifle opened fire on a Catholic church in the US state of Minneapolis and struck students celebrating Mass during the first week of school.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School.
Police believe the shooter then took his own life.
The two victims were aged 8 and 10. A further 17 people were injured, 14 of them were children. Two of the injured children are in a critical condition.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as an "act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics", its director Kash Patel said in a social media post on X.
"The FBI will continue to provide updates on our ongoing investigation with the public as we are able," he wrote.
Police Chief O’Hara identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, adding that Westman had no prior criminal history and law enforcement believes he acted alone.
At least two of the chapel doors had been barricaded from the outside using wooden planks, police said.
Mr O'Hara said the city had "experienced an unthinkable tragedy".
"During the Mass, the gunman approached on the outside on the side of the building and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews sitting at the Mass," he said.
He described the shooting as a "deliberate act of violence against innocent children".
"The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible."
Speaking at a press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he was "deeply saddened and sorry" and hit out at gun violence in the United States.
"[Children] should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear and risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of assurance," he said.
"Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying."
The school shooting was the latest in a string of deadly gun-related incidents to unfold in Minneapolis in just 24 hours.
One person was killed and six others were hurt in a shooting on Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in Minneapolis.
Hours later, two people died in two other shootings in the city.
'Horrific act of violence'
US President Donald Trump said he had been "fully briefed" on the incident, which took place on Wednesday morning, local time.
"I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota," he said, in a post on Truth Social. "The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene.
"The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation."
The White House later published a presidential proclamation ordering all US flags be flown at half-mast at federal properties, military bases and embassies, until August 31.
Governor of Minnesota Tim Waltz said on social media that he had been briefed on the shooting.
"I'm praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence," Mr Waltz wrote on X.
'Makes me sick to my stomach'
An eyewitness, Bill Bienemann, who lives a couple of blocks away and has long attended Mass at Annunciation Church, said he heard dozens of shots, perhaps as many as 50, over as long as four minutes.
"I was shocked. I said 'there's no way that could be gunfire'," he said.
"There was so much of it. It was sporadic."
Mr Bienemann's daughter, Alexandra, said she attended the school from kindergarten to eighth grade, finishing in 2014.
After she heard of the shooting, she said she was shaking and crying, and her boss told her to take the day off.
"It breaks my heart, makes me sick to my stomach, knowing that there are people I know who are either injured or maybe even killed," Ms Bienemann said.
"It doesn't make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been in for so long."
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi said FBI agents were among those responding to the shooting.
A person answering the phone at Annunciation School told reporters students were being evacuated.
The pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school had an all-school Mass scheduled at 8:15am Wednesday morning, according to its website. Monday was the first day of school.
US Senator for Minnesota Tina Smith said she was monitoring the situation, and was "grateful for the quick response of law enforcement".
"It's the first week of school. These kids should not be fearing for their lives," she wrote on X.
ABC/AP
