MINNEAPOLIS — A shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis and struck children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 17 people in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church and shot dozens of rounds through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School just before 8:30 a.m. Police believe the shooter then killed himself.

The children who died were 8 and 10, and 14 other kids were among the wounded, the chief said. Dozens of youngsters were inside.

Michael Simpson said his 10-year-old grandson, Weston Halsne, was nicked by a bullet as he sat near the church windows. His voice shaking as he left the area around the school, Simpson said the violence during Mass on the third day of school left him wondering whether God was watching over.

“I don’t know where He is,” Simpson said.

The police chief said the shooter was in his early 20s, did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone, but did not release the name or information on possible connections to the school. A law enforcement official told the Associated Press authorities have identified the shooter as Robin Westman. That official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The police chief said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors, and that authorities found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene.

“The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” O’Hara said at a news conference as church bells rang out. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey lamented that the violence had forever changed the students' families and the city along with them.

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Frey said. “These kids were literally praying.”

Westman's uncle, former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer, said he did not know the accused shooter well and was confounded by the violence: “It's an unspeakable tragedy.”

“We're praying for my sister and her other children and also, obviously, for these poor, poor children,” Heleringer said by phone. He said he had last seen Westman at a family wedding three or four years ago.

Bill Bienemann, who lives a couple of blocks away and has long attended Mass at Annunciation Church, said he heard as many as 50 shots over as long as four minutes.

“I was shocked. I said, 'There's no way that could be gunfire,'” he said. “There was so much of it. It was sporadic.”

Bienemann's daughter, Alexandra, said she was an alumna of the kindergarten-to-eighth-grade school, and it made her sick to her stomach to think she might know some of those who were injured.

“It doesn't make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been in for so long,” she said.

The police chief said officers immediately responded to reports of the shooting, entered the church, rendered first aid and rescued some of the children hiding throughout the building as other emergency responders arrived.

The school was evacuated and students' families later were directed to a “reunification zone” there. Outside, amid a heavy uniformed law enforcement presence, children in dark green uniforms trickled out of the school with adults, giving lingering hugs and wiping away tears.

Aubrey Pannhoff, a 16-year-old student at a different Catholic school, stood crying just outside the police cordon. She had rushed to Annunciation after her own school's lockdown and prayer service, and she said she was asking God: “Why?”

“It's little kids,” she said. “It's just really hard for me to take in.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the violence “horrific” and his state is heartbroken in posts on X. On Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he was briefed on the shooting. The White House later said Trump spoke with Walz. The governor was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last year's election against Trump's running mate, now Vice President JD Vance, a Republican.

From the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences. The Chicago-born Leo, history's first American pope, said he was praying for relatives of the dead.

Democratic officials from around country were meeting in Minneapolis, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin told the gathering what was happening and said it was “a tragic day for Minnesotans.”

Hennepin Healthcare, the main trauma hospital in Minneapolis, said it received 10 patients, including eight children — aged 6 through 14 — and two adults. Seven were considered to be in critical condition. Children's Minnesota, a pediatric trauma hospital, said it admitted seven children, ages 9 through 16.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh issued a statement in response to the shooting, noting a particularly close relationship between Pittsburgh and Minneapolis.

“We are devastated by the horrific violence that shattered what should have been a holy moment of grace at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where children had gathered for a back-to-school Mass,” the statement from Pittsburgh Bishop Mark Eckman read. “We hold close in prayer the students, families, teachers, parish community, and first responders. We ask the Lord to bring healing to the injured, eternal rest to those who have died, and consolation to all who mourn.

“This story touches our local Church in a particular way. Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who shepherds the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, is a native son of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. We hold him, the victims, and their grieving families in our hearts.”

Monday had been the first day of the school year at Annunciation, a 102-year-old school in a leafy residential and commercial neighborhood about 5 miles south of downtown Minneapolis. Recent social media posts from the school show children smiling at a back-to-school event, holding up summer art projects, playing together and enjoying ice pops.

Karin Cebulla, who said she had worked at the school and sent her two now-college-aged daughters there, said Wednesday she had “never met such authentic, accepting, loving, gracious people” as she did there.

The gunfire was the latest in a series of fatal shootings in the city in less than 24 hours. One person was killed and six others were hurt in a shooting Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in Minneapolis. Hours later, two people died in two other shootings in the city.

O'Hara, the police chief, said the Annunciation shooting does not appear to be related to other recent violence. Still, Dr. Thomas Wyatt, the Hennepin Healthcare emergency medicine chief, noted the toll of responding to two mass-casualty shootings in 24 hours.

Wednesday's school shooting also followed a spate of hoax calls about purported shootings on at least a dozen U.S. college campuses. The bogus warnings, sometimes featuring gunshot sounds in the background, prompted universities to issue texts to “run, hide, fight” and frightened students around the nation as the school year begins.