Annunciation Church shooting: ‘We lost 2 angels,’ principal says

Annunciation Church shooting: Principal says 'This is a nightmare'

Annunciation Catholic School Principal Matt DeBoer and Twin Cities Archbishop Bernard Hebda spoke Wednesday afternoon following the mass shooting that left two children dead, 14 other kids and three adults wounded.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Minneapolis Catholic Church and school community are mourning and reeling after a mass shooting Wednesday morning left two children dead, wounded another 15 children as well as three adults.

Annunciation Church shooting

What we know:

It happened shortly after 8 a.m. as students and community members of Annunciation Catholic School were attending morning mass. The school session for the 2025-26 year opened this week.

A gunman opened fire from outside the church through windows, killing two and injuring 18 others.

The shooter is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the attack.

Annunciation school shooting: Parishioner shares experience

Two children were killed and 17 other people were injured in a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. The suspect, who fired from outside through the church windows as children worshiped, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman.

‘We lost 2 angels today’

What they're saying:

Annunciation School Principal Matt DeBoer was part of an afternoon news conference involving Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Archbishop Bernard Hebda.

DeBoer was understandably emotional.

"We love you, you’re so brave, and I’m so sorry this happened to us today. Within seconds of this situation happening, our teachers were heroes. Children were ducked down, adults were protecting children, older children were protecting younger children. It could’ve been significantly worse without their heroic action. This is a nightmare, but we call our staff the Dream Team. We will recover from this, we will rebuild from this," DeBoer said.

DeBoer added that the school’s motto for the year was embodied by the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 29, in the Bible. It’s headlined by, "A future filled with hope."

"There’s nothing about today that can fill us with hope. 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. Never again. We lost two angels today. Never again can we let this happen," DeBoer said.

Minneapolis school shooting student recalls attack

Dig deeper:

During the attack, students were taking part in a morning mass, according to one who spoke with FOX 9 in the aftermath.

The attack began around three minutes after mass started, according to the student, who said his friend was shot in the back after it began while he tried to lay on top of him.

"We got in pews, and he shot through the stained-glass windows… I was down and didn’t look up," he told FOX 9. "My best friend [was hit]. He was lying on top of me, making sure I was safe, and he got hit. That was really brave of him."

The student said they had previously practiced active shooter drills before at the school, but never in the church.

"I’m just kinda confused… I never thought it would happen, and then it did," he said.

FBI investigating shooting as terrorism, hate crime

Why you should care:

The FBI says it is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara says they haven't determined a motive, but the suspect did post a manifesto on YouTube, which has since been taken down.

The shooter has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman. FOX 9 has confirmed Westman’s mother previously worked at Annunciation. The shooter’s mother also applied to change her child’s name from Robert to Robin in Dakota County in 2019, according to court documents obtained by FOX 9. According to the name change filing, Westman identified "as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification."

The Source: This story uses information from FOX 9 reporting.

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