FBI director says Minnesota shooting was 'domestic terrorism'

WASHINGTON

FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that investigators have collected evidence that indicates the mass shooting at a Catholic Church in the state of Minnesota was an act of "domestic terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology."

It is unclear which ideology the FBI chief was referring to, but he said the suspect "left multiple anti-Catholic, anti-religious references both in his manifesto and written on his firearms" and indicated that Robin Westman "expressed hatred and violence toward Jewish people, writing 'Israel must fall,' 'Free Palestine' and using explicit language related to the Holocaust."

"He wrote a (sic) an explicit call for violence against President Trump on a firearm magazine The @fbi investigation is still ongoing," Patel wrote on the US social media company X’s platform. "We will employ all of our counter-terror tools to ensure this is fully investigated and deterred. And as promised, we will continue to update when able."

Two young children were killed in the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, according to law enforcement. A total of 17 others, including 14 children, were injured. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the rear of the church.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters at a press briefing that the shooter fired 116 rifle rounds through the church's stained glass windows as the school children were celebrating mass. Three shotgun shells were also recovered at the scene, as was a live round that was found in a handgun that appears to have malfunctioned.

The doors of the church were locked from the inside.

"It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorize those innocent children," said O'Hara.

Acting US Attorney for the District of Minnesota Joe Thompson said that an investigation into writings Westman left behind indicated he was motivated by "pure, indiscriminate hate."

"The shooter expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable. The shooter expressed hate towards Black people. The shooter expressed hate towards Mexican people. The shooter expressed hate towards Christian people. The shooter expressed hate towards Jewish people," he said.

"In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us. The shooter's heart was full of hate. There appears to be only one group that the shooter didn't hate, one group of people who the shooter admired: the group were the school shooters and mass murders that are notorious in this country," he added.

O’Hara confirmed in an earlier interview with ABC News that Westman attended the school and church and said his mother had worked there.