According to the police chief, the attacker fired at the trade fair at the trade fair at the start of the school year with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol through the church windows. Then he committed suicide in a nearby parking lot.
The two fatalities were eight and ten years old, the police chief added. At least 17 other people were injured, 14 of them children. Two of the injured hovered in mortal danger. Dozens of students would have participated in the trade fair at the beginning of school.
Two adults and nine children aged six to 14 were treated in the Hennepin County Medical Center, doctors said to journalists. At least four of the injuries had to be operated on.
The perpetrator was a man at the age of 20, said O’Hara. He hadn’t had an extensive criminal past, he probably acted alone. The investigators examined “left information” to determine a possible motif, said O’Hara.
The chief of police spoke of a “intentional act of violence against innocent children and other people who were currently celebrating a service”. He added: “The sheer cruelty and cowardice to shoot into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.”
The church that the man attacks is located in the immediate vicinity of a Catholic elementary and middle school in Minneapolis, the most populous city in the US state of Minnesota. The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, said in online service X, he prayed “for our children and teachers, whose first school week was ruined by this terrible act of violence”.
The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, also condemned violence. “It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are children who should learn with their friends,” said Frey to journalists. “You should play on the playground. You should be able to go to school or church in peace, without fear of violence or the risk of violence.”
US President Donald Trump announced that he had been informed about the “tragic” event. The Federal Police (FBI) reacted quickly and was on site, he said in his online service Truth Social. “The White House will continue to observe this terrible situation,” emphasized Trump and called on praying for everyone affected. An employee of the White House later said that Trump called with rolling.
The Pope from the USA also commented “deeply sad”. The head of the Catholics speaks “everyone who is affected by this terrible tragedy, in particular the families who are now mourning the loss of a child, his sincere condolences and the certainty of his intellectual proximity,” said a letter published by the Vatican.
This week, many students had returned to class in the USA from the summer vacation. In recent years, attackers have repeatedly attacked schools with firearms and killed numerous people. In the United States, there are more firearms in circulation than there are residents. The country has the highest death rate by firearms among all industrialized countries.
