At least five children were injured in a shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, according to authorities and a local hospital.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described the incident, which occurred during the first week of the school year, as “horrific.” Authorities confirmed that the suspected shooter has been neutralized, and there is no longer a threat to the community.
Governor Walz wrote on social media:
“Prayers for our children and teachers, whose first week of school has been marked by this horrific act of violence.”
A pediatric hospital in Minnesota confirmed it received five children for treatment, while another hospital reported treating additional patients injured in the shooting.
Witness Bill Bienemann said he heard approximately 50 shots over four minutes, expressing shock at the scale of the attack:
“I was stunned. I thought it couldn’t be gunfire. There were so many shots.”
The school was evacuated, and families were directed to a nearby area to reunite with their children. Heavy police presence was reported outside the school.
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was informed of the “tragic shooting” and that the White House is monitoring the situation.
The school, founded in 1923, offers education from preschool through eighth grade. According to its website, it had planned a morning mass at 8:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The shootings occurred on the first day of school.
This shooting is the latest in a series of deadly incidents in Minneapolis within less than 24 hours: on Tuesday, one person was killed and six others injured outside a high school, followed by two deaths in separate shootings later that day.
Authorities noted the shooting came after a wave of false gun threats at U.S. campuses, which forced universities to send alerts to students to evacuate school buildings during the start of the new academic year.
