Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says children are dead after shooting at Catholic school

WCCO-AM / 830 WCCO

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke to reporters at a press conference after at least five children were injured in a shooting Wednesday morning during the first week of classes at a Minneapolis Catholic school, authorities and a hospital said.

Transcript

00:00There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act.

00:26Children are dead, there are families that have a deceased child.

00:35You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.

00:45We are a Minneapolis family, but to everybody out there, do not think of these as just somebody

00:53else's kids.

00:56Those families are suffering immense pain right now.

01:01Think of this as if it were your own.

01:05Every one of us needs to be wrapping our arms around these families, giving them every ounce

01:10that we can muster.

01:14These were Minneapolis families.

01:16These were American families.

01:19And the amount of pain that they are suffering right now is extraordinary.

01:25Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now.

01:27These kids were literally praying.

01:30It was the first week of school.

01:32They were in a church.

01:34Earlier today, just before 8.30 a.m., our city experienced an unthinkable tragedy.

01:43Minneapolis police officers responded to a report of a shooting at a mass that was happening

01:50at the Annunciation Roman Catholic Church on the block behind me.

01:55This worship service was marking the first week of school for children that are attending

02:02the Annunciation Catholic school.

02:06During the mass, a gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began

02:11firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the mass.

02:20Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshipers that were inside the building.

02:25The shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol.

02:32This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping.

02:41The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.

02:53Police officers from the Minneapolis Police Department immediately responded, entered the church,

03:00and attempted to provide first aid and rescue some of the children that were hiding throughout

03:05the building, while other first responders came and EMS responded to rush victims to nearby

03:12hospitals.

03:15Two young children, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews.

03:23Their parents have been notified.

03:2617 other people were injured, 14 of them being children.

03:33Two of those children are in critical condition.

03:38The coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church.

03:44We believe it is one suspect, a sole shooter.

03:47We believe he is deceased.

03:48He is in his early 20s, does not have an extensive known criminal history.

03:56And we are looking through information left behind to try and determine some type of motive.

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