A shooting at a school in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 others injured is being investigated as an anti-Catholic hate crime, the FBI says.
The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X.
The two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed when an attacker opened fire through the windows of the city's Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning as children were celebrating Mass.
The attacker, who died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was later named by police as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, was among those who paid tribute to the young victims, saying he was profoundly saddened by the attack.
Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters: This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping.
Authorities have not yet released a suspected motive for the attack, and police began receiving calls of a shooting just before 08:00 local time (14:00 BST) on Wednesday.
Officials are investigating if he shot inside the building or if all the shots came from outside the church, noting that no casings from bullets were found inside.
A 10-year-old boy who survived the attack stated that his friend saved him from bullets by lying on top of him.
Governor Tim Walz condemned the attack and emphasized that these violent acts are becoming all too common across the country.
