Christian School Shooting Leaves 2 Children Dead, 17 Injured
Two children were killed and more than a dozen others injured Wednesday when a gunman opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a Minneapolis Catholic school before taking his own life -- an attack the mayor condemned as a horrific act of evil. The tragedy unfolded as school was beginning during the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School, as children and teachers alike attended Mass. The pre-K through eighth-grade facility is located on the south side of Minneapolis.
Brian O'Hara, chief of police for the Minneapolis Police Department, said the gunman carried a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol and -- based on a preliminary investigation -- may have never entered the building. The ages of the children killed were 8 and 10, he said, with 17 additional people, including 14 children, injured. Two of those children were in critical condition Wednesday morning, he said.
Children were shot as they sat in pews, he said.
The chief labeled the tragedy as “beyond comprehension.”
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping,” O’Hara said.
The gunman, believed to be in his early 20s, killed himself, O’Hara said. A motive is not yet known.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city will rally around the families and the school.
“These kids were literally praying,” an emotional Frey said. “It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are kids that should be learning with their friends. They should be playing on the playground. They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence. And their parents should have the same kind of assurance. These are the sort of basic assurances that every family should have every step of the day, regardless of where they are in our country.”
Frey said of the families: “We need to do everything possible to support them through this time.”
School violence, Frey said, has become an all-too-familiar reality in America.
“This kind of act of evil should never happen, and it happens far too often,” he said.
DESPICABLE! Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey mocks Christians praying as dead kids lay in a Church pic.twitter.com/n5EiAPMy6v
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 27, 2025
O’Hara pledged: “We will stand together to protect our children, our schools and our houses of worship.”
President Trump has spoken with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about the situation.
“Please join me in praying for everyone involved!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Star Tribune via Getty Images /Contributor
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published August 27, 2025.
