MINNEAPOLIS — A shooter dressed in black opened fire on Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis during a weekly morning Mass with students Wednesday.

In an update Thursday, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooting killed two children, ages 8 and 10 years old, and injured 18 others, after saying 17 were injured Wednesday. The shooter died by suicide.

On Wednesday afternoon, law enforcement identified the sole suspect as Robin Westman, 23, of Richfield.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.

“These kids were literally praying,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. “It was the first week of school; they were in a church.”

Here is what we know about the shooting:

O’Hara said dozens of students from Annunciation Catholic School were seated inside the church at 509 W. 54th St. for a weekly morning Mass, the first of the school year.

It is unclear exactly how many people were inside the church at the time.

Shortly before 8:30 a.m., a person dressed in black and carrying a rifle, shotgun and pistol fired through the church windows from the outside, O’Hara said.

Police received reports of the shooting at 8:27 a.m., O’Hara said. Four minutes later, the first police officer arrived.

O’Hara said investigators recovered 116 spent rifle rounds and three shotgun shells. The handgun appeared to have malfunctioned when the shooter tried to use it.

During the attack, those inside the church ducked to the ground under pews. Adults protected children and older children protected younger children, according to Matt DeBoer, the school principal.

“[The shooter] just pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots,” a witness told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The doors to the church were locked after Mass began, which likely saved many lives, O’Hara said. Because the shooter could not gain access to the building, she was forced to shoot from outside the church. Westman’s body was found behind the church.

Two children were killed in the attack: Harper L. Moyski, 10, and Fletcher A. Merkel, 8, both of Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Of the 18 others who were injured, 15 are children between the ages of 6 and 15 years old, he said. The other three are parishioners in their 80s.

All of the injured victims are expected to survive.

On Thursday morning, nine victims of the Annunciation Church shooting remained at HCMC in Minneapolis, including five children. One child remained in critical condition. One adult and one child were in serious condition.

One patient had already been discharged and HCMC officials hoped another more would go home Thursday.

Dr. Thomas Wyatt, chair of emergency medicine for Hennepin Healthcare, said on Wednesday two adults and nine children were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center — seven of whom were in critical condition when they arrived. Those children were between the ages of 6 and 14 years old, Wyatt said.

The hospital later corrected the number of victims it received to 10. HCMC treated two adults and eight children.

Children’s Minnesota said four patients were treated and released Wednesday. Three children remained at the Minneapolis hospital Thursday morning, a hospital spokesman said.

O’Hara confirmed Thursday that Westman once attended the school and her mother was employed there for some time. He said investigators are unaware of any incident that would have incited Wednesday’s attack.

Westman also did not have a criminal history or any mental health commitments and was not on any law enforcement watchlist, officials said Thursday.

A 2017 Annunciation yearbook showed Westman attended the school for at least one year.

The church also said in a 2021 Facebook post that Westman’s mother provided “wonderful hospitality.”

The weapons used in the attack were purchased legally and “recently,” O’Hara said. A manifesto was timed to appear on YouTube on Wednesday, and O’Hara said it is authentic, but investigators have not yet pieced together a motive.

It appears the shooter wanted to obtain notoriety, he said.

Joe Thompson, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, said Thursday that investigators are poring over hundreds of pages of writings left behind by the shooter that described her mental state, plan of attack and “pure indiscriminate hate.”

Thompson said the shooter expressed hate toward “almost every group imaginable,” and included examples of religious groups, racial groups and nationalities mentioned. Thompson also acknowledged President Donald Trump was referenced.

Thompson said the shooter “appeared to hate all of us” and specifically wanted to harm children.

One group the shooter expressed admiration for was mass murderers and school shooters, Thompson said.

Public records show Westman’s father, James Westman, owns a home in south Minneapolis, less than a mile from Annunciation. Police were stationed outside the house Wednesday, which was cordoned off with crime scene tape.

A video posted Wednesday to a YouTube channel that apparently belongs to Westman shows four guns, ammunition and a letter to family and friends.

The speaker in the video, who is not visible, apologizes to family and speaks about plans to injure children, without any remorse.

Three residences in the metro area – in Minneapolis, Richfield and St. Louis Park – and the church were searched as part of the investigation, O’Hara said.

Hundreds of pieces of evidence have been recovered, but no additional weapons have been found.

Investigators also located a vehicle believed to belong to the shooter.

Annunciation Catholic School had 339 students in kindergarten through eighth grade during the 2024-25 school year, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

Helen Corkran, the director of pastoral care at the school, said the new school year began Monday, and Wednesday was the first children’s Mass, which takes place every Wednesday and lasts 30 minutes.

The church held its first Mass in 1922 and opened its school the following year to 72 students, according to the church’s website.

The school touts its commitment to academics, service and Catholic values. A Facebook post about the first day of classes features back-to-school photos of the students with the hashtag #AFutureFilledwithHope.

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