An 8 and 10 -year -old boy were shot dead when an armed man fired through the windows of a church at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning, police said.
Other seventeen, including 14 children, were injured in the shooting during a mass that marked the first week of school, police said. Two children are in critical, said police.
The gunman died at the scene of a self -inflicted gunshot wound, said Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara.
Police and lifeguards work on the scene of a shooting near the Annunciation Church and the Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minneosta, on August 27, 2025.
Eva Claire Hambach/AFP through Getty Images
Families and loved ones walk outside the police barricades after a shooting in the Annunciation Church, which also houses a primary school, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer/Reuters
The massive shooting developed just before 8:30 am, when the gunman approached the side of the building and fired a rifle through the church windows towards children and other worshipers sitting in the banks, O’Hara said.
Dozens of rounds were fired, said the boss, and called him a “deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people who love.”
The law agents meet outside the Annunciation Church after a mass shooting event, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 27, 2025.
Tim Evans/Reuters
The law agents meet outside the Annunciation Church after a mass shooting event, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 27, 2025.
Tim Evans/Reuters
The armed man, described as in his 20 years, was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a gun, and the police believe he triggered the three weapons, said the boss.
“We are looking through the information left to try to determine some kind of reason,” said the boss.
Parents expect news from the state of their children after shooting in the Annunciation Church, on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune through Getty Images
Police and lifeguards work on the scene of a shooting near the Annunciation Church and the Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minneosta, on August 27, 2025.
ABBIE Parr/AP
“These children were literally praying,” said an exciting mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, at a press conference. “It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are children who should learn with their friends, they should be playing in the recess court. They should be able to go to school or the church in peace without fear or risk of violence, and their parents should have the same type of security.”
“This type of act of evil should never happen, and it happens too often,” he said.
The law agents meet outside the Annunciation Church school in response to a massive shooting reported on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis.
MARK VANCLEAVE/AP
The law agents meet outside the Annunciation Church after a mass shooting event, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 27, 2025.
Tim Evans/Reuters
Students in pre-K to eighth grade attend school. You saw young children who wore their uniforms leaving school holding their parents’ hands.
“I am praying for our children and teachers whose first week of school was tarnished by this horrible act of violence,” wrote the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, on social networks.
The law agents meet outside the Annunciation Church school in response to a massive shooting reported on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis.
ABBIE Parr/AP
Police and lifeguards work on the scene of a shooting near the Annunciation Church and the Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minneosta, on August 27, 2025.
Tom Baker/AFP through Getty Images
Brian Leege, who lives two blocks from the school, told ABC News that he was having breakfast with his daughter when he heard dozens of shooting for two or three minutes.
“My husband is a firefighter, and received a phone call this morning [that] He said that there was an incident in Annunciation, and that is where my niece and his nephew are going to school … so simply took off on foot, “Emily celebrated He told Minneapolis ABC Affiliate KSTP. “About 15 minutes ago we hear that they are safe. But it is very horrible and is so scary.”
Families and loved ones meet outside the police barricades after a shooting in the Annunciation Church, which also houses a primary school, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer/Reuters
President Donald Trump wrote in Truth Social that he has been “completely informed about the tragic shooting.”
“The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Unique me to pray for all those involved!” He wrote.
Trump called Walz after the shooting to offer his condolences, a source told ABC News.
This is a development story. Consult the updates again.
Pierre Thomas, Jack Date of ABC News, Luke Barr, Aaron Katersky, Sasha Pezenik and Michael Pappano contributed to this report.
