Within seconds of a person opening fire into a Minneapolis church where children were gathered for Mass, teachers acted as heroes, Annunciation Catholic School’s principal said Wednesday.
“Children were ducked down,” said Matt DeBoer. “Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children. … It could have been significantly worse without their heroic action.”
Still, “we lost two angels today,” he said of two students, ages 8 and 10, who were killed.
The suspect wounded an additional 17 people before dying by suicide in the back of the church, said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
The shooter was identified by O’Hara as Robin Westman, 23. The mother of a person of the same name and age as Westman previously worked at the site of the shootings, Church of the Annunciation. O’Hara said he could not confirm a relationship between the suspect and the church, “but that’s obviously something we’re looking very closely at.”
Robin Westman had a manifesto and had timed it to be released on YouTube. It “appeared to show (the suspect) at the scene and included some disturbing writings,” O’Hara said. With the assistance of the FBI, the content has since been taken down and “it now remains under active review by our investigators,” the police chief said.
O’Hara didn’t provide information about the manifesto and added: “I have no information to share on a motive,” he said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X (formerly Twitter) that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
‘Deliberate act of violence’
Westman was outside the South Minneapolis church and shot through the windows, O’Hara said. The two children killed were sitting in the pews.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping,” O’Hara said. “The sheer cruelty and cowardice firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.”
At Annunciation Catholic School, which resumed Monday after summer break, there was Mass to mark the first week of school. It was toward the beginning, so some children had already filed in and were seated, while others were coming in, O’Hara said. There were dozens of children present.
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Westman, armed with a rifle, shotgun and a pistol and outside the building, fired all three weapons toward children sitting in the pews about 8:30 a.m., O’Hara said. Westman had no prior criminal history and had recently lawfully purchased the weapons, according to the police chief.
Minneapolis police officers entered the church, attempted to provide first aid and rescued some of the children who were hiding throughout the building, according to O’Hara. First responders rushed victims to nearby hospitals.
The police chief said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors, and that authorities found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene.
O’Hara said Wednesday afternoon that there was “no indication of other suspects directly involved in carrying out this attack.”
Law enforcement were carrying out search warrants at the church and three residences “nearby in the metro that are related to this shooter,” and additional firearms were being recovered from those locations as of Wednesday afternoon, O’Hara said.
Victims in critical condition
The 14 wounded juvenile victims are ages 6 to 15, and three adult victims are parishioners in their 80s who were attending the Mass. There is a range of injuries, but all the victims are expected to survive, O’Hara said.
Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis was caring for 10 victims as of 12:15 p.m. Wednesday. Six children and one adult were in critical condition, and another adult and two children were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the hospital.
Children’s Minnesota said seven children ages 9 to 16 had been admitted to their hospital, and four patients had been released as of about 4:30 p.m.
Danielle Gunter, whose eighth-grade son was injured in the shooting, said their “hearts are shattered — not only for him, but for everyone who was harmed. We grieve and we pray: for the others who were shot, for their families, and for those who lost loved ones.”
She said in a statement that they “feel the pain, the anger, the confusion, and the searing reality that our lives will never be the same. Yet we still have our child. Unlike others, we are blessed to hold onto him. We will help him rebuild his life, his trust and his confidence.
“We don’t want others to ever feel the same. And we pray that everyone touched by this tragedy can find the strength to begin rebuilding, too.”
Gunter thanked first responders “who raced into danger for others, for us. … Our son shared with us that an MPD officer ‘really helped him.’ He said the officer rendered aid, hugged him, reassured him and prayed with him before getting into the ambulance.”
Weston Halsne, 10, told WCCO-TV that a friend saved him by laying on top of him. He said his friend was injured, and that’s he praying for him.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne recounts taking cover behind a pew while a friend, who was injured, protected him with his body at Annunciation Church and School in Minneapolis after a mass shooting there Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. Two children were killed and 17 people injured when a gunman opened fire through the windows of the church while students from the Catholic school were attending Mass. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“It was, like, shots fired and then we kind of like got under the pews,” he said. “They shot through the stained-glass windows, I think, and it was really scary.”
Dozens of officers responded to the scene and “many of them are deeply traumatized by what they saw, as are obviously all of the children, all of the staff members … everyone who was at Mass this morning,” O’Hara said.
‘Never again’
At Annunciation Catholic School, which serves preschoolers through eighth-graders, this school year’s theme is from the prophet Jeremiah chapter 29: “A future filled with hope.”
“There’s nothing about today that can fill us with hope,” Principal DeBoer said. “We as a community have a responsibility to make sure that no child, no parent, no teacher ever has to experience what we’ve experienced today. … Never again.”
At a Wednesday morning press conference near the church, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged people to move beyond “thoughts and prayers.”
“These kids were literally praying,” he said. “… They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence. … These are the sort of basic assurances that every family should have every step of the day, regardless of where they are in our country.”
Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and Frey decried hatred being directed at “our transgender community.”
Westman’s gender identity wasn’t clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Gov. Tim Walz ordered flags to fly at half mast at state buildings “immediately and continuing indefinitely” for the victims of the shootings.
“It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this,” he said.
President Donald Trump, with his leadership team of the attorney general and vice president, called Walz on Wednesday and offered “to provide the support to the folks here in Minnesota of what’s needed,” the governor said.
Pope Leo XIV sent a message to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, via the Vatican’s secretary of state. It said the pope “sends his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy,” Hebda read from the message.
Neighbors heard shots, saw crying children
People in the area heard gunshots ring out.
“It was by far the loudest, most horrific thing I’ve ever heard,” said Renee Landers, who lives close by. “I feel like it was just going forever.”
Neighbor Mark McLean said he saw “officers running from all directions.”
“In the worst possible way,” McLean said. He figured the shots were coming from Annunciation knowing that it was home to a church and school.
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Mason Carter, who works on masonry restoration, was working outside at a nearby home when he said he heard “three cadence outbursts of shots.” He saw a woman walking a baby down a street. “She kind of looked at me, I looked at her. I was like, ‘Get out of here.’ And we both just jetted.”
He later saw law enforcement walking a number of kids down the street. “I’m sure every student was crying,” he said.
Landers also saw children being led away. “Half of them were screaming and crying and saying, ‘I want my mom.’”
“I just can’t comprehend,” she said. “… And to see the parents coming here and and looking for their kids in just sheer terror.”
This report includes information from the Associated Press.
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