Updated August 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM EDT
Minneapolis residents are in mourning after a shooter opened fire on Wednesday in a church filled with children and other worshippers during a Mass to mark the first week of school. Authorities say two children were killed and 18 more people were injured.
Hennepin Healthcare said Friday that it was continuing to treat six of the shooting victims, including one child who is in critical condition and four children in "satisfactory" condition. One other adult, who is in serious condition, is being treated at the hospital.
Children's Minnesota on Thursday afternoon said one child remained hospitalized there but did not detail their condition. The hospital treated and released six other children.
The shooter, identified by authorities as Robin Westman, 23, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene after firing through the windows of the Annunciation Church from outside the building, police said. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the investigation showed that Westman intended to kill children.
O'Hara said no additional firearms were found during searches of three residences in Minneapolis connected to the shooter.
O'Hara said Westman acted alone and was motivated by gaining "notoriety." FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the attack will be investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said his community is grieving with families whose lives were upended after sending their children off to Annunciation Catholic School Wednesday morning.
"Think of that last interaction," Frey told NPR's Morning Edition on Thursday. "You should be able to do that knowing that you're going to see them in the evening with certainty. And these families, tragically, some of them didn't have that obvious right."
At a news conference on Friday, Frey praised the efforts of law enforcement and emergency management.
"This week, the city of Minneapolis faced circumstances that no city would ever want to face," he said. "But from fire to police, from neighborhood relations to communications, from emergency management to health, our city showed up. And because of that collective work, lives were saved."
Assistant Police Chief Christopher Gaiters said officers would conduct enhanced, around-the-clock, patrols in the city, including at schools and places of worship at least through Sept. 5.
Here's what to know so far about Wednesday's tragic shooting.
What happened?
The shooting occurred just before 8:30 a.m. local time near the start of Mass. It was held to mark the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School, which is next door to the church, according to O'Hara.
O'Hara said the shooter — using a rifle, shotgun and pistol — stood outside the church and opened fire through its windows.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Annunciation Catholic School principal Matthew DeBoer said staff members moved students under the pews "within seconds" of the shooting.
"Adults were protecting children, older children were protecting younger children," he said. "It could have been significantly worse without their heroic actions."
Two children were killed where they sat in the pews. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner released their names Thursday evening: Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10.
Harper Moyski was an adored big sister and a "deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her," parents Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin wrote in a statement.
"Our hearts are broken not only as parents, but also for Harper's sister, who adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss. As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain," they wrote.
"We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country. Change is possible, and it is necessary — so that Harper's story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies."
On the front steps of the church where Fletcher Merkel was killed the previous day, his father, Jesse Merkel, gave an emotional statement on Thursday remembering his son as a joyful child who "loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking, and any sport he was allowed to play." Merkel asked that his son not be defined by the violent act that ended his life, but for the person he was.
Eighteen other people were injured, including three adult parishioners who were in their 80s and 15 children between the ages of 6 and 15.
City officials on Thursday revised the number of injured victims from 17 to 18, saying an additional child had been identified.
Police recovered three shotgun shells, along with 116 rifle rounds. One live round was recovered from a handgun that appeared to have malfunctioned and was stuck in the chamber.
What is the status of the victims?
Ten of the injured people were sent to Hennepin Healthcare, a level 1 trauma center. At a briefing Thursday morning, medical staff said a child remained in critical condition there.
Two of the shooting victims were in serious condition, including an adult. Six others were in satisfactory condition at the hospital, and one patient was discharged early Thursday, staff said.
Of the seven victims that were sent to Children's Minnesota hospital, officials said Thursday afternoon that one children remained at the facility, and six patients have been discharged.
Who is the suspect?
Westman had legally purchased the guns used in the shooting and had no prior criminal record, according to O'Hara from the Minneapolis police.
O'Hara said investigators believe the shooter also made YouTube videos in connection to the attack.
The videos showed guns and weapon magazines marked with handwritten messages referencing names of past mass shooters and other details. They also showed the inside of a notebook containing schematic drawings of a church sanctuary hall.
In 2020, Westman's mother applied to change the name of her 17-year-old child from Robert to Robin. In court documents obtained by NPR, the mother, Mary Grace Westman, wrote, "minor child identifies as female and wants her name to reflect that identification."
Police said the shooter went to the school and attended services at the church when they were younger. The shooter's mother was employed at the church. Authorities have not identified a specific grievance against the church or the school.
What are officials saying?
Mayor Frey says his community is united in grief over "an unspeakable tragedy." He's also calling for action to prevent similar gun violence.
"Prayers are welcome, thoughts certainly welcome, but that's not enough," Frey told NPR's Michel Martin on Thursday. "These kids were literally praying in church and it is on us right now not just to sit back. It's on all of us to take the necessary actions so that this kind of thing doesn't happen again."
The mayor questioned the wide availability of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, adding, "these guns come into the city by the trunk load, both legally and illegally."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz extended the state's sympathies to people hurt and affected by the shooting.
The students had come to school to experience joy, curiosity and learning — but instead, they were "met with evil and horror and death," Walz said on Wednesday as he stood near the scene of the shooting.
"There shouldn't be words for these types of incidents because they should not happen," the governor said. "And there's no words that are going to ease the pain."
The mass shooting came months after a gunman targeted state lawmakers at their homes in the Minneapolis suburbs, first wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and then killing Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said interventions and gun control can work to prevent such attacks.
"It's not as if we don't know how to do this," Ellison said on Morning Edition on Thursday. "Actually, since the gun legislation we passed just a few years ago, we've seen a reduction in mass shootings. Of course, one is too many because they're tragic to everybody involved, but we know that we can do this."
Minnesota passed "red flag" and universal background check measures into law in 2023.
Ellison said more changes could help, such as tighter gun laws and protocols to flag the sudden purchase of multiple guns and mental health concerns.
While the investigation is ongoing in Minneapolis, he said, "I think that there are a number of things that very well could have worked, including hotlines and other things like that."
NPR's Joe Hernandez contributed reporting.
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