A gunman opened fire at a Minneapolis Catholic elementary school during Wednesday morning services, killing two students and wounding 17 others before taking his own life, authorities confirmed. The victims were aged 8 and 10 years old.
Officials identified the shooter as Robin Westman, a man in his early twenties with no significant criminal background on record. The attack unfolded while students attended morning mass, according to local reports.
🚨 Parents are reuniting with their kids at the scene of the Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis
The threat is reportedly contained pic.twitter.com/8KxGEUM3t4
— RT (@RT_com) August 27, 2025
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described the incident as “horrific” after receiving official briefings on the situation. “I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz posted on X.
Emergency responders including police, FBI agents, federal personnel, and ambulance crews rushed to the scene as school officials began student evacuations, according to a staff member who answered the school’s telephone. The tragedy struck Annunciation Catholic school just two days into the new academic year.
The private elementary institution serves approximately 395 students and maintains close ties with Annunciation Catholic Church. Both facilities sit within a residential neighborhood in southeastern Minneapolis, Minnesota’s most populous city.
U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged the “tragic shooting” through a Truth Social statement, confirming White House briefings and ongoing situation monitoring.
Established in 1923, the pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade institution had scheduled an all-school Mass for 8:15 am Wednesday morning, per its official website. Classes had commenced Monday, with social media images capturing uniformed students in green attire gathering at bicycle stations, posing cheerfully, and socializing together.
This violent incident adds to a troubling pattern of recent fatal shootings citywide within a single day. Tuesday afternoon saw one fatality and six injuries in gunfire outside a Minneapolis high school. Two additional fatal shootings occurred elsewhere in the city that same evening.
