MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Two kids have been killed and 18 different folks have been injured in a taking pictures at Annunciation Catholic Church and Faculty in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.
This is all the pieces we all know concerning the taking pictures, the victims, the survivors, the suspect and the motive:
Annunciation mass taking pictures
The backstory:
Shortly earlier than 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 27, a number of legislation enforcement businesses responded to a report of a taking pictures on the Annunciation Church and Catholic Faculty in south Minneapolis.
A gunman wearing black approached the skin of the church and opened fireplace via the stained-glass home windows towards kids sitting within the pews throughout their first week again in school.
The shooter was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, and is believed to have fired dozens of rounds from all three weapons, in accordance with Minneapolis Police Division Chief Brian O’Hara.
First responders arrived on the scene and rescued kids hiding all through the church. There have been 20 victims because of the taking pictures. Two kids, 8 and 10, have been fatally shot. One other 15 kids, between the ages of 6 and 15, have been injured by gunfire. Three adults of their 80s who have been attending mass have been additionally shot.
Beforehand, authorities mentioned 14 kids have been injured within the taking pictures however officers revised that quantity to fifteen on Thursday morning.
Learn extra: Annunciation Faculty taking pictures: Emergency audio reveals medical response, accidents
All of the remaining victims are anticipated to outlive, O’Hara mentioned on Wednesday.
Hennepin Healthcare mentioned Thursday morning it’s now caring for 9 sufferers, with one affected person being discharged. Six sufferers are in passable situation, together with 5 kids. Two folks — one little one and one grownup — are in severe situation, and one little one is in vital situation.
Hospital officers mentioned one or two extra sufferers could possibly be discharged Thursday morning.
In the meantime, Youngsters’s Hospital, which was caring for seven sufferers, mentioned 4 kids had been discharged. As of Thursday morning, it continues to care for 3 kids.
Annunciation taking pictures victims: Who have been they?
Annunciation taking pictures: Pupil recollects tragedy
A scholar of Annunciation Church and Faculty in Minneapolis recollects an assault that left a minimum of two college students lifeless, and greater than a dozen injured – detailing how his buddy was shot within the again in the course of the “tremendous scary” assault Wednesday morning.
The victims:
Details about the victims and survivors is beginning to be launched. Two kids, ages 8 and 10, have been killed. Fifteen kids ranging in ages from 6-15 have been injured within the taking pictures, in addition to three worshipers of their 80s.
This is what we all know to date:
Sophia Forchas damage in Annunciation taking pictures
Sophia Forchas, 12, was injured within the Annunciation Church and Faculty mass taking pictures on Aug. 27, 2025. (GoFundMe / Equipped)
Sophia Forchas was recognized on GoFundMe and a submit by St. Mary’s Orthodox Church as a sufferer of the taking pictures. The 12-year-old is in vital situation. Her brother, who can be an Annunciation scholar, was not bodily damage within the taking pictures.
In the meantime, her mother is a pediatric vital care nurse who went to work to assist earlier than discovering out the taking pictures occurred at her kids’s college and her daughter was among the many injured.
The GoFundMe web page has raised greater than $150,000 as of Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Annunciation Church college taking pictures: What we all know concerning the victims
Endre Gunter damage in Annunciation taking pictures
Endre, an eighth-grader, was injured within the Annunciation Church and Faculty mass taking pictures in Minneapolis. (GoFundMe)
Endre Gunter, a 13-year-old boy was damage within the taking pictures, in accordance with a GoFundMe organized on behalf of Danielle Gunter.
Danielle Gunter, the mom of an eighth-grade boy who was shot, launched a press release on Wednesday saying “Our hearts are shattered … In contrast to others, we’re blessed to carry onto him. We are going to assist him rebuild his life, his belief, and his confidence.”
You possibly can learn her full assertion right here.
Based on the GoFundMe, Endre was rushed into surgical procedure after being shot and is recovering on the hospital.
The GoFundMe has raised $15,899 as of Thursday morning.
Memorial for Annunciation victims: How one can assist
Annunciation college taking pictures: A number of victims stay hospitalized
A taking pictures at Annunciation Church and Faculty in south Minneapolis on Wednesday left two kids lifeless and 18 others injured, most of them kids. Lots of the victims stay hospitalized as of Thursday morning. FOX 9’s Shayne Wells has the most recent on the sufferer’s situation.
What you are able to do:
There’s a rising memorial at 54th and Lyndale, the place individuals are putting flowers and messages of remembrance for the victims.
The Metropolis of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Basis have additionally established a text-to-donate line for folks to donate cash. You possibly can textual content “ACF1” to 41444.
RELATED: Annunciation Church taking pictures: How one can assist
The Minneapolis Basis is internet hosting the fund and can work with Annunciation within the coming days to equitably distribute the funds raised to these impacted.
If you happen to’re seeking to donate blood, don’t name hospitals immediately. Contact the American Purple Cross.
Investigating the Annunciation taking pictures motive
The suspect:
The suspect, recognized as 23-year-old Robin Westman, reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound within the parking zone of the church. Police situated what’s believed to be the shooter’s automotive and are looking it for additional proof.
FOX 9 has confirmed the shooter’s mom beforehand labored at Annunciation. The suspect’s mom additionally utilized to alter her little one’s identify from Robert to Robin in Dakota County in 2019, in accordance with courtroom paperwork obtained by FOX 9. The identify change submitting states that the 23-year-old recognized “as a feminine and desires her identify to mirror that identification.”
The investigation:
As a part of the investigation, police say search warrants have been being executed on the church and three different places across the metro. Extra firearms have been recovered, and the weapons used within the taking pictures have been bought legally. Police consider the shooter acted alone.
The FBI says it’s investigating the taking pictures as an act of home terrorism and a hate crime concentrating on Catholics. O’Hara says they have not decided a motive, however the suspect did submit a manifesto on YouTube, which has since been taken down.
In an replace on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned the FBI continues to research the “barbaric assault,” noting they’ve gathered proof “demonstrating this was an act of home terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology.”
Patel supplied the next updates on the investigation into the shooter’s motive:
- The shooter left a number of anti-Catholic, anti-religious references each within the suspect’s manifesto and written on the suspect’s firearms.
- The shooter expressed hatred and violence towards Jewish folks, writing “Israel should fall,” “Free Palestine,” and utilizing express language associated to the Holocaust.
- The shooter wrote an express name for violence towards President Trump on a firearm journal.
Patel mentioned the investigation is ongoing, and the FBI will “make use of all of our counter-terror instruments to make sure that is totally investigated and deterred.”
Historical past of Annunciation Catholic Faculty
Native perspective:
Relationship to 1923, the pre-kindergarten via eighth-grade college had an all-school Mass scheduled at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, in accordance with its web site. Monday was the primary day of faculty. Latest social media posts from the varsity present kids smiling at a back-to-school occasion, holding up summer season artwork tasks, taking part in collectively and having fun with ice pops.
Within the 2023-24 college 12 months, there have been 391 college students enrolled an Annunciation.
Annunciation is situated on the five hundred block of West 54h Road in south Minneapolis, close to the intersection of 54th Road and Lyndale.
Dig deeper:
Learn extra concerning the Annunciation mass taking pictures:
The Supply: This story makes use of data from earlier FOX 9 reporting, data from officers and statements launched by relations of the survivors.
