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A shooter opened fire during Mass on the third day of school at Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota, killing two children and injuring several more.
Students were sitting in the school's chapel when the assailant fired through the window and then officers say, the shooter committed suicide.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters following the deadly event.
The investigation continues and officials are treating it as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
According to the FBI, the shooter has been identified as a 23-year-old resident of the area.
The school has close to 400 students. This attack marks the 146th such attack since the start of the year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church,” a visibly angry Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference.
According to officers, dozens of rounds were shot with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol.
14 children and two adults were being treated for gunshot wounds at local hospitals.
A fifth-grade student, Weston, told reporters that his friend was trying to protect him and had been hit with a bullet. "The shots were like, right next to me. I think I got like gunpowder on my neck.”
Officers are trying to determine the motive as the suspect did not have an extensive criminal history. A smoke bomb was found at the school and officials searched a vehicle in the parking lot.
Following the shooting, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff across the country as a sign of mourning.