Authorities say the attacker in the Minneapolis school shooting "appeared to hate all of us" and "wanted to watch children suffer"
The attacker fired through church windows on Wednesday morning as people were praying during Mass – two children, aged eight and 10, were killed, and 18 others were injured
A child is still in critical condition, according to a hospital official
Law enforcement has identified the attacker as Robin Westman, 23, from suburban Minneapolis. Westman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Earlier today, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines
This video can not be played
Watch: Minneapolis shooter 'wanted to watch children suffer', says official
Edited by Caitlin Wilson and Tinshui Yeung
Sakshi Venkatraman
Live reporter
We've just heard from local and federal law enforcement, who have given updates on Wednesday's school attack in Minneapolis.
Here's what we've learned:
As a reminder, Westman's name was legally changed from Robert to Robin in 2020, with the judge writing: "Minor child identifies as a female".
Police haven't been successful in talking to the attacker's mother at this time, Chief Brian O'Hara says, but efforts are being made to get in contact.
The suspected attacker's mother, Mary Grace Westman, previously worked at Annunciation Catholic School, according to a school newsletter from 2016.
O'Hara adds that three residences are associated with this attacker, but investigators aren't yet sure where she was staying at the time of the shooting or who the attacker was living with.
And that's the end of the police update.
O'Hara says that church policy is to lock the door after Mass begins – something he says has saved additional lives in the shooting incident.
He adds that they learned the attacker intended to, and did, barricade the doors on the side of the church.
"What's particularly heinous and cowardly about this is these children were slaughtered by a gunman who could not see them," he says.
Police were asked about the extra child who was added to the number of injured today.
O'Hara says the child was taken to a hospital outside the city in a private vehicle, and didn't tell police about their injuries until after they were treated and released.
He says the children's injuries range from bullet graze wounds to serious, life-threatening injuries.
Police Chief O'Hara says the attacker had previously attended mass at the Catholic church and also went to the Annunciation Catholic School.
"So obviously there is a connection between the attacker and this particular parish," O'Hara says.
The police chief adds that authorities have not yet identified any grievance or incident that may have prompted the attacker to target this church.
An FBI agent at the news conference says Westman did not appear on any watchlist before the attack.
Police Chief O'Hara adds that he's not aware of any mental health diagnoses or treatment the attacker was receiving.
This video can not be played
Watch: Minneapolis shooter 'wanted to watch children suffer', says official
Thompson also talks about Westman's writing, which he says gives insight into the plans, mental state and hatred of different groups.
He says that while the attacker "appeared to hate all of us", there is one group she idolised: other school attackers and mass murderers.
"Reading them, one thing is clear, and it's going to be hard to hear but it's important to the question of why this happened: more than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children," he says. "The shooter was obsessed with the idea of killing children."
A reporter asks about FBI Director Kash Patel's statement that the attacker had written about President Trump.
"Certainly, there's evidence of hate," Minnesota's Acting Attorney General Joseph Thompson says.
"The shooter expressed hate towards many groups, including the Jewish community and towards President Trump."
He says when there are attacks at houses of worship, local and federal law enforcement work together to investigate.
Minnesota's acting US attorney for the district of Minnesota Joseph Thompson has vowed to follow the evidence to its logical conclusion, and authorities say they'll do their best to establish a motive.
But he says there might not be a definitive or satisfactory answer.
"I won't dignify the attacker's words by repeating them, they are horrific and vile. But in short, the attacker wanted to watch children suffer," he says.
More details from the police now.
O'Hara says three shotgun shells were recovered at the scene, along with 116 rifle rounds and one handgun round that appears to have malfunctioned as the attacker tried to use it and it became stuck in the chamber.
His department executed four search warrants on Thursday – one at the church and three at residences in Minneapolis, Richfield and St Louis Park.
Investigators found more evidence there, including electronic devices that will be searched and processed further.
He says the investigation will continue and they "will follow all of the evidence to its logical conclusion."
Police chief Brian O'Hara is now giving an update.
A new detail we're hearing is that a police officer ran into the church during the shooting, and a parishioner showed him where the shots were coming from.
"The parishioner later told me that it was the first time that he, the children and others there had any sense that they might be safe and survive," he says.
After hearing from Minnesota politicians and gun control advocates, we're now expecting an update from police soon on the shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
You can Watch live at the top of this page, and we'll bring you any important update, so stay with us.
We’re still hearing speakers at the news conference at Minneapolis city hall calling for bans on assault weapons.
Those presenting – including state lawmakers, a paediatrician and gun control advocacy groups – describe gun violence as "a public health crisis" and insist that "we cannot become numb to this".
They’re demanding action at both the federal and state level to prevent further gun violence.
Leah Kondes, who leads the Minneapolis chapter for the pro gun control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, is also calling for a ban on assault weapons.
The mother of three says one of her daughters has already lived through two mass shootings.
"Another school year begins and once again it is marked by gun violence," she says. "This is not an isolated incident."
Kondes adds that less than 24 hours before the Annunciation School shooting, there was another shooting in Minneapolis where an AR-15-style assault weapon was used.
"These are weapons of war and they are tearing through our communities over and over again."
She says the guns used in many shootings are "guns designed for battlefields".
"No civilian needs a gun that can fire dozens of rounds in seconds," she says. "Sending kids to school should not mean sending them into a war zone. Enough is enough."
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota, says it's not hard to ban assault weapons. She says what's really hard is being a mother who has just dropped her children off at school, then getting a phone call to say they've been killed.
"That someone evil enough was afforded the ability to get a weapon that could be used to assassinate them through a window at their school while they sat for morning mass," she says. "I do not know what society finds themselves in the place we continually find ourselves."
Omar says she knows a thing or two about weapons of war, having been a refugee from Somalia. But she says she never imagined coming to the US and having to do drills for the same weapons.
"There is something fundamentally broken," she says. "I don't know why uniquely in America we have the capacity to not change what we know we can," Omar adds.
She says a straightforward ban to stop people getting these weapons is a simple request.
This video can not be played
Minneapolis mayor calls for ban on assault weapons after school shooting
Mayor Jacob Frey says there needs to be a statewide and federal ban on assault weapons.
That gets a big round of applause in Minneapolis – a city where most politicians are Democrats.
"We need a statewide and a federal ban on high capacity magazines," the mayor adds.
"There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload," he says.
"We're not talking about your father's hunting rifle here. We're talking about guns that are built to pierce armour and kill people."
He says part of the problem is the free flow of assault weapons from city to city – and that it will take political unity between cities to tackle the issue.
We're now hearing from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
"Minneapolis is mourning," he says. "We are committed to not having this be the scenario where another politician comes up to say never again."
Thoughts and prayers "are not gonna cut it", he says, and there needs to be action at the federal, state and city levels to make sure students can go to school and be safe.
We're now listening in to a news conference in Minnesota, where Mayor Jacob Frey and lawmakers are expected to address the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Minnesota State Senator Zaynab Mohamed and Minnesota State Representative Emma Greenman are among the speakers.
We'll bring you updates here – and as always, you can click Watch live to follow along.
By Olga Robinson
I’ve been deciphering more from the notebooks of the suspected Minneapolis attacker, showing for the first time evidence of extensive planning done by Robin Westman before the shooting and the suspect’s relationship with the Annunciation School.
One of the notes, largely written in Cyrillic letters, starts by saying that “things are moving swiftly into place” and that Westman is “feeling good about Annunciation” because it is a “good combo of easy attack for me and devastating tragedy”.
The suspect lists a series of options for the attack, including during break time at a school or a Christmas concert at a church.
If the attack is timed right the shooting can “catch a big assembly on the first day of school” but Westman says it might be too risky because people may disperse quickly.
The suspect concludes that reconnaissance is needed to see how many people are at the school on a normal day which could be done by pretending to fix their car and then checking to “make sure this place is worth attacking”.
Later on, Westman talks about driving past Annunciation one day to check how many children are there but being unable to see clearly.
The notebook goes into detail about Monday 25 August being the first day of school and Westman wonders if any staff would remember the children.
The suspect then writes about how she is planning to shoot without aiming because unlike “the police and good guys”, Westman can fire indiscriminately and just “have fun”.
These notes are dated to late July, indicating that Westman had been preparing for this attack for more than a month.
A still image of Robin Westman, from the suspect's social media
The attacker has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, from suburban Minneapolis. The motive is not yet known.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the attacker did not have an "extensive known criminal history" and acted alone.
Police found a "manifesto" that the suspect had timed to publish on YouTube at the time of the attack, but it has now been taken down.
The attacker's mother, Mary Grace Westman, previously worked at the school, according to a school newsletter from 2016. A Facebook post says she retired from the role in 2021.
Westman's name was legally changed from Robert to Robin in 2020, Minnesota court records show. In the application, the judge wrote: "Minor child identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification."
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey pushed back against hatred directed towards the transgender community after the attack.
In their own updates, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Westman was a "man, claiming to be transgender", and in his post on X, FBI director Kash Patel referred to Westman as "a male".
Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.