Authorities in the US city of Minneapolis said a 23-year-old man who opened fire on two young school students and injured more than a dozen others in a Catholic church was “filled with hatred” and “obsessed” with killing children.
The suspect shot 116 bullets through stained glass windows on Wednesday during the first week of classes at the Annunciation Catholic School, according to Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara on Thursday.
O’Hara stated, “It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorize those innocent children.”
Because the police chief wanted to “get attention” with this “heinous attack,” the police chief also requested that the news media refrain from covering the shooter’s name. Following the shooting, the assailant committed suicide in a parking lot.
An eight-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were the victims of the attack.
Acting US Attorney Joe Thompson claimed that the assailant’s videos and writings “expressed hate against almost every group imaginable,” including Jews, Christians, and Mexicans.
The suspect “idolised” the suspect, Thompson claimed, and one group the attacker did not hate was “the most notorious school shooters and mass murderers in our country’s history.”
He claimed that the shooter was “obsessed with the idea of killing children.”
The recent mass shooting in the US has once more sparked debates about gun restrictions and safety.
Despite efforts to increase security and identify potential perpetrators before they can act, deadly gun violence has become more prevalent in schools, churches, and other places once thought safe in the US.
Director Kash Patel stated on X earlier on Thursday that the FBI had gathered evidence that the church attack was an “act of domestic terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology.”
Fletcher Merkel, 8, was a boy who loved his family, fishing, cooking, and any sport he was allowed to play, according to family members. Harper Moyski, a 10-year-old girl, and her parents said in a statement that she was a young, upbeat child.
After a previously unidentified victim came forward, the number of children who were hurt in the attack was increased to 15, according to police. Additionally, three elderly people suffered injuries.
According to authorities, one child is in critical condition and one adult is in serious condition.
The shooter, who was unconnected, had recently changed her name and identified as a transgender woman, and had recently purchased all three firearms legally.
Source: Aljazeera
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