Washington: At least two minor students were killed and 17 others injured as a gunman opened fire at morning Mass in a Catholic school in Minneapolis city of the US state of Minnesota, on Monday, reports said.
The gunman was said to have shot himself dead subsequently, the BBC reported, citing the Minneapolis police.
The attack happened at Annunciation Catholic School, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said, calling it a “deliberate act of violence against children and worshippers”.
The deceased children were aged eight and 10.
According to the police, the gunman, who is yet to be identified, was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol and shot through the church windows, and then turned a gun on himself.
The number of injured was pegged at 17, of which 14 were children.
The BBC quoted Thomas Wyatt, Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Hennepin Healthcare, as saying seven critical patients were brought in and four needed surgery. The patients were aged between six and 14 years old, he added.
Earlier, police said two children were in critical condition.
Wyatt said that he could not give any individual patient information, “but at the moment they’re all alive”.
Non-critical patients were taken to other hospitals, he said, adding that he has no information on those victims.
Police chief O’Hara said the gunman “ultimately took his own life”.
“Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their children”, for the young lives “fighting to recover”, and for “the entire community that has been so deeply traumatised by this senseless attack”, he told the media.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said that “there are no words that can capture the horror”, noting “it was the first week of school, they were in a church”.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that he was briefed on the shooting.
“The BCA and State Patrol are on scene. I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” he said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to say he’s been “fully briefed” on the Minneapolis shooting incident.
“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene,” he wrote.
“The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation.”
“Please join me in praying for everyone involved,” he added.
(IANS)
