People gather at a vigil at Lynnhurst Park after a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)2025-08-28T04:42:49Z RICHFIELD, Minn. (AP) Just hours after a shooter opened fire through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people, hundreds crowded inside a nearby schools gym, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Gov. Tim Walz and clergy members.Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday night, while hundreds more waited outside, Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the students trying to shield their classmates as the gunfire erupted.In the midst of that there was courage, there was bravery, but most especially there was love, he said at the Academy of Holy Angels, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) south of the shooting, in the suburb of Richfield.Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds Wednesday morning toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian OHara said at news conferences. The shooter then died by suicide, he said. The children who died were 8 and 10. Fourteen other kids and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the chief said. Rev. Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said they were almost to the end of the Responsorial Psalm, which speaks about light in the darkness. Thats when he heard someone yell, Down down, everybody down, and the gunshots started. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told reporters he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was lying on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.I was super scared for him, but I think now hes OK, the 10-year-old said. Police investigate motive for the shootingFBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics. OHara said police hadnt yet found any relationship between the shooter and the church, nor determined a motive for the bloodshed. The chief said, however, that investigators were examining a social media post that appeared to show the shooter at the scene.OHara, who gave the wounded youngsters ages as 6 to 15, said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors, and that authorities found a smoke bomb at the scene.On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the alleged shooter released at least two videos before the channel was taken down Wednesday. In one, the alleged shooter shows a cache of weapons and ammunition, some with such phrases as kill Donald Trump and Where is your God? written on them. A second video shows the alleged shooter pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife. Westmans uncle, former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer, said he did not know the accused shooter well and was confounded by the unspeakable tragedy.The police chief said Westman did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone.Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decried hatred being directed at our transgender community. Westmans gender identity wasnt clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westmans 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. Police chief says officers rescued children who hidThe police chief said officers immediately responded to reports of the shooting, entered the church, rendered first aid and rescued some of the children.Annunciations principal Matt DeBoer said teachers and children, too, responded heroically. Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children, he said.Vincent Francoual said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived the shooting by running downstairs to hide in a room with a table pressed against the door. But he still isnt sure exactly how she escaped because she is struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatizing scene. She told us today that she thought she was going to die, he said.Walz lamented that children just starting the school year were met with evil and horror and death. He and President Donald Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on state and federal buildings, respectively, and the White House said the two men spoke. The governor was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last years election against Trumps running mate, now Vice President JD Vance, a Republican.From the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences. The Chicago-born Leo, historys first American pope, said he was praying for relatives of the dead.Monday had been the first day of the school year at Annunciation, a 102-year-old school in a leafy residential and commercial neighborhood about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of downtown Minneapolis. Karin Cebulla, who said she had worked as a learning specialist at Annuciation and sent her two now-college-aged daughters there, described the school as an accepting, caring community.___Karnowski and Vancleave reported from Minneapolis and Golden from Seattle. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York; Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Will Weissert and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Nicole Winfield in Vatican City; and Steve Peoples in Minneapolis contributed to this report. GIOVANNA DELLORTO DellOrto is a multimedia reporter with The APs Global Religion team. She has reported across the United States, Europe and Latin America, covering events and issues ranging from the conclave to the Olympics, from immigration to the intersection of Indigenous spirituality and the environment. STEVE KARNOWSKI Karnowski covers politics and government from Minnesota for The Associated Press. He also covers the ongoing fallout from the murder of George Floyd, courts and the environment, among other topics. twitter mailto