US orders flags flown at half-staff after deadly Minneapolis church shooting

• Patel announces shooting being investigated as 'act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics'

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff after a shooting claimed the lives of two children in the US state of Minnesota.

Trump said in a proclamation that all US flags were to be flown at half-staff until Sunday at all public buildings and grounds, military posts, and naval vessels across the country, as well as its territories, possessions and diplomatic and other facilities abroad.

Two young children were killed in a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota early Wednesday, according to the Minneapolis police chief.

“Two young children, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews,” Brian O’Hara told reporters near the scene of the shooting.

“Seventeen other people were injured, 14 of them being children. Two of those children are in critical condition,” said O’Hara.

The shooter “ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church,” he said, adding that the suspect, in his early 20s, acted alone and did not have an extensive known criminal record.

O’Hara said a vehicle suspected to have been used by the shooter was being searched and the motive was yet unknown.

The suspect was identified as Robin Westman, 23, according to FBI Director Kash Patel, who said the shooting was being treated as an "act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics."

"There were 2 fatalities, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. In addition, 14 children and 3 adults were injured. The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman," Patel wrote on the US social media company X.

Footage on social media ostensibly from a YouTube channel run by Westman showed a roughly 1,000-word note left to the family of “Robin M Westman,” recounting suicidal and potentially violent thoughts.

The videos also show an unseen figure, assumed to be Westman, brandishing firearms and ammunition, including a pistol, shotgun and a rifle, which police said were the weapons used Wednesday.

The Minneapolis Police Department said earlier that officers were responding to an “active police situation” at the church, which also has a school serving students from preschool through eighth grade.

It stressed there was “no active threat to the community” as the shooter had been “contained.”

Reports indicate that three other shootings had taken place in Minneapolis in the last 24 hours, with three people killed and seven wounded in total.

Gov. Tim Walz confirmed the incident on social media, saying the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol were on the scene. “I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” he said.

Hennepin Healthcare, which operates hospitals in the Minneapolis area, reportedly said it was treating patients from the shooting.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that federal agents were also at the scene. “Our prayers are with everyone involved in this tragedy. Our team will provide updates as we receive them,” she said.