The FBI is investigating the killing of
two children during a school mass as an
act of domestic terrorism and a hate
crime targeting Roman Catholics. A
10-year-old and an 8-year-old were
killed and 17 people injured when the
attacker opened fire during morning mass
at the Enunciation Catholic School in
Minneapolis. The shooter died from a
self-inflicted gunshot wound at the
scene and had no significant criminal
history according to authorities. Our
correspondent Tom Baitman reports.
>> Parents grip their children. America's
latest survivors of a mass shooting. The
Annunciation Church service here on the
Catholic school grounds was meant to
welcome in the new term, but the worst
possible news reached these families
within minutes. The mass was just
getting underway as the shooting began.
Children were still filing into the
building at the time. Westman from
outside was shooting through the windows
dozens of rounds according to the police
from three different guns. And inside
children were being bundled under church
pews to try to protect them from the
gunfire. Patrick Scallan lives half a
block away from the church and ran
towards the gunfire, finding three
wounded children trying to flee the
building. I think it was a girl with a
head gunshot wound to the head that
said, "Why does this happen? Why why did
this happen today?" You can't answer
that question.
>> What did you tell her?
>> I just said I just said, "Don't worry
about that now. Let's just get you
better. Just stay calm." And then she,
you know, she'd go back to where my mom
and dad and I just try to keep calm.
>> Police say two children were killed as
they sat in their pews. Another 14 were
wounded, aged between six and 15, along
with three parishioners in their 80s.
Police have been searching several
residential properties linked to the
perpetrator who died, say police, at the
scene from a self-inflicted gun wound.
They have identified the attacker as
23-year-old Robin Westman, a former
student at the school who legally
changed their name from Robert in 2020.
Detectives are reviewing a social media
video timed to come out with the
shooting in which the asalent describes
being depressed wanting to carry out an
attack showing off guns and ammunition
alongside racist, anti-semitic and
violent messages. We as a community have
a responsibility to make sure that no
child, no parent, no teacher ever has to
experience what we've experienced today,
ever again. We lost two angels today.
>> Last night, vigils took place as a city
honored its dead and prayed for the
wounded. President Trump ordered flags
at half mast while a raft of politicians
have again said never again when it
comes to mass gun crime. But one local
official said answers must come through
more than thoughts and prayers for the
children targeted while they were
already at prayer. Tom Baitman, BBC
News, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
>> Well, the Minnesota Democratic
Congresswoman Betty McCollum spoke to
BBC News and blamed existing gun laws
for many of the problems facing the US
in terms of these types of shootings.
these weapons used to hunt and target
human beings um shouldn't be readily
available the way that they are and we
can Minnesota has some good gun laws but
federally we have to have better gun
laws. When I was first elected to
Congress we had a banned against assault
weapons. Now assault weapons are
prolific uh around the United States and
being used in so many of these uh
tragedies uh like what happened today.
Today it was at a school. Today it was
at a church. There were parishioners
there. Um teachers, parents, very young
children. Um this was just a heinous,
cruel act. And it's it's really struck
our community. You know, let's pray for
the families, but Congress needs to stop
praying to get a solution. Congress has
the solutions in front of them. We need
to pass common sense gun laws. We can
still have people hunting and fishing um
you know and have rights to have um
weapons for that. Um but you know a
person who just goes out and buys a
shotgun, a rifle and a pistol uh and
doesn't need it for self-defense isn't a
licensed hunter. Um it's it's ridiculous
to have that kind of access to those
weapons. And the police think there
might even be more that this person uh
would have had access to.
Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Betty
McCollum speaking to the BBC.