00:00There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act.
00:18Children are dead.
00:23There are families that have a deceased child.
00:26You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.
00:36We are a Minneapolis family.
00:40But to everybody out there, do not think of these as just somebody else's kids.
00:48Those families are suffering immense pain right now.
00:53Think of this as if it were your own.
00:56Every one of us needs to be wrapping our arms around these families, giving them every ounce that we can muster.
01:06These were Minneapolis families.
01:08These were American families.
01:11And the amount of pain that they are suffering right now is extraordinary.
01:17And don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now.
01:20These kids were literally praying.
01:21It was the first week of school.
01:24They were in a church.
01:27These are kids that should be learning with their friends.
01:32They should be playing on the playground.
01:34They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence.
01:42And their parents should have the same kind of assurance.
01:44These are the sort of basic assurances that every family should have, every step of the day, regardless of where they are in our country.
01:54I'm so deeply saddened and I'm so sorry to the families that I know are suffering right now.
02:06My ask is to everyone, stand by them.
02:13Love them.
02:16These families have forever been changed and we've all been changed with them.
02:20We need to do everything possible to support them through this time.
02:25We have a family resource center that has been set up.
02:31I'm grateful for all of the law enforcement agencies from a number of different jurisdictions, all the different departmental support that we've received.
02:41They're going to be working tirelessly.
02:45There's also a family resource center that is being set up as we speak to make sure that we're there for everybody.
02:56Again, to the families that are suffering, to those that have experienced loss, I'm so deeply sorry.
03:04We're going to be with you every step of the way.
03:06We love you.
03:07This kind of act of evil should never happen, and it happens far too often.
03:15The chief will provide additional details.
03:20My name is Brian O'Hara, B-R-I-A-N-O-H-A-R-A.
03:25I am the Minneapolis police chief.
03:28Earlier today, just before 8.30 a.m., our city experienced an unthinkable tragedy.
03:35Minneapolis police officers responded to a report of a shooting at a mass that was happening at the Annunciation Roman Catholic Church on the block behind me.
03:48This worship service was marking the first week of school for children that are attending the Annunciation Catholic School.
03:57During the mass, a gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the mass.
04:13Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshipers that were inside the building.
04:18The shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol.
04:25This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping.
04:33The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.
04:46Police officers from the Minneapolis Police Department immediately responded,
04:51entered the church, and attempted to provide first aid and rescue some of the children that were hiding throughout the building.
04:58While other first responders came, and EMS responded to rush victims to nearby hospitals.
05:07Two young children, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews.
05:15Their parents have been notified.
05:1917 other people were injured, 14 of them being children.
05:24Two of those children are in critical condition.
05:30The coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church.
05:37Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their children.
05:43For these young lives that are now fighting to recover.
05:47And for our entire community that has been so deeply traumatized by this senseless attack.
05:54We will stand together to protect our children, our schools, and our houses of worship.
06:03This deliberate act of violence is just a sign of cruelty that is behind comprehension.
06:10Our hearts, our hearts are broken for everyone that's been affected by this tragedy.
06:19As we begin the difficult path of healing, I want the community to know this.
06:24That even in the face of such evil, the Minneapolis Police Department and all of our law enforcement partners stand with our community.
06:32We stand with these families and with this parish.
06:37We will continue to be here for you.
06:40With that, the investigation is obviously in its preliminary stages.
06:44And I will attempt to take some questions to provide further information.
06:48Chief, what can you tell us about the suspect in this case?
06:52How old was he? Any kind of motivation? Any notes or any other information?
06:57So we were looking. The question was, what can be said about the shooter?
07:03We believe it is one suspect, a sole shooter.
07:06We believe he is deceased. He is in his early 20s.
07:09Does not have an extensive known criminal history.
07:14And we are looking through information left behind to try and determine some type of motive.
07:21How many kids have at the school?
07:23How many kids have at the school?
07:24I don't have an exact... The question was how many children at the school.
07:29There were dozens of children inside the mass at the time.
07:33I don't have an exact count.
07:35The children have been relocated into the school, which is where their families are reunifying with them.
07:42Other than the weapons, other than the weapons, was the shooter a student, former student, was he a former employee?
07:49Do we know that?
07:49The question was, do we know if the student was...
07:52If the shooter was a former school employee or a former student, we don't have that information.
07:58Did you leave anything behind other than the weapons?
08:01There's a vehicle... The question was, was anything left behind?
08:04There's a vehicle that we believe that the suspect used that is being searched.
08:09And we are... We will be conducting other searches related to this.
08:15Inside the parking lot here.
08:17I think there was some neighbors who said that the door to the church had been barricaded.
08:22Yep. Is that correct?
08:23So the question was, neighbors had said that the door to the church had been barricaded.
08:28The shooter approached on one side of the church building, and on that side, at least two doors, it appears, there had been like a two-by-four place.
08:38So not all of the doors around the building, but on the side where the shooter did fire.
08:43And on the outside?
08:44On the outside, yes.
08:45The question was, was there any explosives?
08:50There were reports of that. There were no explosives or improvised devices that we found.
08:56I do believe there was one... I guess you would call it a smoke bomb.
09:01Like, not an explosive, but a sort of a firework that would release smoke.
09:04And which side of the building?
09:06The side that is closest to us, here, on this side.
09:11Is there any reason why you can't go at the evening of our homes?
09:15I don't have specific information on that, that I can release.
09:18The question was, is he dead from a gunshot wound?
09:23The answer is yes. We believe he took his own life in the parking lot.
09:26Was this outside or both inside that he was shooting?
09:31The question was, was he shooting outside and inside?
09:34He was absolutely shooting outside of the building, on the side of the church, inside through the windows.
09:39It appears he may have gone inside, but I don't believe we've located any casings inside the building.
09:45So I'm not certain if he fired also while inside.
09:48It appears, if not all, most of the shooting happened outside the building.
09:52Is this shooting related to any other shootings that happened in the last 24 hours?
09:56Yeah. Taylor's asking, is this related to any of the other shootings?
09:59This does not appear to be related to any other shooting in the city.
10:02Do you know approximately how many rounds were fired?
10:05The question was, how many rounds? I would say it's in the dozens. We don't have an exact count.
10:10There's a sidewalk on the outside, as well as a grassy area.
10:14So obviously, we are going through and taking our time to process the scene.
10:17Was he firing just one weapon, like the rifle?
10:20The question was, was he firing one weapon?
10:22We believe he had fired all three. He had a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol.
10:27Were the weapons, was he lawfully carrying the weapons? I don't have that information.
10:38And I don't have any information on any significant criminal history, either.
10:43Was he dressed at all in any back-clothes type of gear or anything?
10:47It appeared he had some black clothing on, his cargo-type pants.
10:53I guess you could interpret that as, you know, however you like.
10:58Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for helping us to get the information out today.
11:03We have a lot more work that needs to be done.
11:07We will return back later today to provide more details as they become available.
11:12And we'll let you know how you can know about that in a moment to come.
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