Annunciation Catholic Church shooting

• 1. Introduction

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  The Annunciation Catholic Church shooting struck a Minneapolis parish on the morning of the 27th of August 2025, during the first week of the school year. An all-school Mass was scheduled for 8:15 a.m. at the Church of the Annunciation, in the Windom neighborhood. Students and faculty of Annunciation Catholic School filled the pews.

  Within the hour, the city would be flooded with first responders, then with grieving families, and soon after with politicians and commentators from across the country. This documentary asks who the people in that church were, and how neighbors and strangers reacted when they understood what was happening. It asks what investigators found in the days that followed. And it asks why a tragedy inside one parish became a flashpoint far beyond Minnesota.

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• 2. A Parish Since 1922

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  The parish held its first Mass in 1922, and on the 10th of September 1923 four Dominican Sisters opened Annunciation School in a new red-brick building that housed both church and school. More than a century later, the community still sat in southwest Minneapolis. The school taught pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, ran daily religion classes, and gave each grade its own service projects. In 2024 it enrolled about 340 students.

  Safety planning there had one notable gap. Students practiced active shooter drills inside the school building, but they did not practice them inside the attached church.

  Violence was already weighing on Minnesotans that summer. Two months earlier, state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, and state senator John Hoffman and his wife were injured, in shootings that drew national attention. On the 26th of August, the day before the Mass, a shooting outside Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis killed one person and injured six.

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• 3. Two Minutes in the Pews

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  Shortly before 8:30 a.m., an individual approached the side of the church and fired dozens of rounds from a rifle through the stained-glass windows toward the worshippers. Police later said the attacker also carried a shotgun and a pistol, and that the pistol jammed. At least two exit doors had been barricaded from the outside with lumber, so people inside struggled to find a way out.

  Many in the pews first took the noise for a prank or for firecrackers. Then they dropped to the ground, and the principal shouted for everyone to get down. Others later said they prayed and asked for absolution, convinced they were about to die.

  Accounts of protection run through the testimony. Students and adults shielded one another, and one child was reportedly shot in the back while covering another. One parent offered a painful observation about the school's buddy system, which paired older children with younger ones. In his view, the older students stayed upright longer after pushing their younger buddies under the pew, and so more of them were wounded.

  The gunfire lasted roughly two minutes. It ended in the rear parking lot, where the attacker died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Investigators recovered about 116 rifle casings, one unfired pistol cartridge and three shotgun shell casings, a tally that the ATF would later help trace back to the weapons.

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• 4. Rescue and Loss

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  One neighbor counted the first three shots, understood what they were, and ran to the church. On the ground outside he saw three cartridges. Another neighbor met three children fleeing the building and comforted one who had a head wound. A mother who had just returned home after dropping off her preschool-aged son ran back to alert the teachers, and on the way she saw responders and neighbors helping bloodied children out of the church.

  The first 9-1-1 calls came in around 8:27 a.m. Minneapolis police officers entered the building within minutes to give aid and rescue students. Paramedics carried the injured to area hospitals, including Hennepin County Medical Center, known as HCMC. The city directed families to the school building to reunite with their children, and a family assistance center opened. Some students were reunited with their parents in the school gym.

  Shortly after 9 a.m., authorities said there was no ongoing threat. The response drew in the Minnesota State Patrol, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, FBI agents, ATF specialists, the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minneapolis Fire Department. The city gave the all-clear at 9:29 a.m.

  Harper Moyski, 10 years old, and Fletcher Merkel, 8, died in the shooting. Officials did not immediately release the names of the dead children, so the Merkel and Moyski families identified them to the public themselves. Moyski's parents shared a message demanding action to address gun violence.

  Twenty-eight other people were hurt: twenty-four children, three parishioners in their 80s, and one person with a non-gunshot wound. The wounded children ranged from age 6 to 15 and included both elementary and middle school students.

  Hospitals divided patients by severity. Critical cases went to HCMC, noncritical pediatric patients to Children's Minnesota Hospital, and noncritical adults to North Memorial Hospital. HCMC's emergency department treated ten patients from the scene. Later that day it reported one adult and five children in critical condition, and one adult and three children with non-life-threatening injuries. Four patients needed surgery.

  Officials said all of the injured were expected to survive, and several went home the same day. Two children stayed in the hospital for weeks with severe injuries. One was released on the 8th of September after two brain surgeries.

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• 5. What Investigators Found

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  Federal officials said they were investigating the attack as an act of domestic terrorism and an anti-Catholic hate crime. The Minneapolis Police Department led a joint investigation of local, state and federal authorities, assisted by the FBI and the ATF. Chief Brian O'Hara said investigators executed search warrants at three residences in the Twin Cities area and searched a vehicle believed to belong to the suspect.

  Law enforcement identified the attacker as Robin M. Westman, 23, who was born on the 17th of June 2002. Westman's mother had worked at Annunciation School, and Westman had attended it, graduating in 2017. A legal name change followed in 2019. Westman had at one point identified as transgender, and diary entries from before the shooting expressed disillusionment with being trans. There is no evidence that Westman had begun gender-affirming care or hormone therapy. The home of Westman's father, less than a mile from the church, was cordoned off with crime scene tape.

  Authorities said Westman acted alone, had no known criminal history, and bought the rifle, shotgun and pistol legally and, in O'Hara's word, "recently". The ATF assisted with tracing the firearms. Investigators said they were still working to determine a precise motive.

  Investigators also reviewed online videos and writings that had been scheduled to publish on YouTube through a time-release. Two videos went up before the channel was taken down shortly afterward. They showed writings that referenced suicide and "extremely violent thoughts and ideas", a message addressed "to my family and friends", and a drawing of the layout of a church. Messages written on the guns and magazines included antisemitic, anti-Catholic and racist phrases, "kill Donald Trump", "6 million wasn't enough", and the names of several mass shooters.

  Westman's uncle, Bob Heleringer, who served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1980 to 2003, said he wished Westman "would've shot me instead of innocent schoolchildren".

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• 6. Mourning and Remembrance

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  On the evening of the shooting, more than 600 people gathered for a prayer vigil at the Academy of Holy Angels. Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Governor Tim Walz and Senator Amy Klobuchar attended. Pope Leo XIV sent condolences by telegram through the Cardinal Secretary of State, conveying "spiritual closeness" to those affected. Hundreds more took part in a candlelight vigil at Lynnhurst Park, organized by Protect Minnesota and Moms Demand Action. Outside the church, mourners built a sidewalk memorial of flowers, notes and candles.

  Archbishop Hebda told reporters, "My heart is broken... We need an end to gun violence." He later said that prayers from around the country, and the message from Pope Leo XIV, had been "a source of hope". Archbishop William E. Lori, vice-president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote, "Let us all beg the Lord for the protection and healing of the entire Annunciation family." Auxiliary bishop Kevin Kenney met families at HCMC and told local media, "it shouldn't be happening".

  Before a game at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins observed a moment of silence, with "Annunciation Church" on the stadium video board. Minnesota United FC fans held their own moment of silence against the Portland Timbers. They raised tifos bearing the names of the two children and a call to end gun violence, then sang "You Are My Sunshine". On the 8th of September, the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears wore shirts reading "Annunciation" on the front during warm-ups. The back read "Be Kind. Be Respectful. Be Inclusive. Be My Best Self. Be Brave." In May 2026, the Richfield Little League retired Fletcher's No. 7 jersey, so no player in the league will wear it again.

  Catholic schools and churches began re-examining their safety plans. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said many of its schools had to update plans that had focused only on an attacker entering the building. The Archdiocese of Chicago said it would hold active shooter drills inside its churches.

  On the 6th of December 2025, Archbishop Hebda presided over a Solemn Rite of Reparation at Annunciation, reconsecrating the space for sacred worship. Media were asked not to be present inside.

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• 7. A Divided Reaction

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  Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis opened a family resource center and used a news conference to push past expressions of sympathy. "Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now... These kids were literally praying," he said. He also warned, "Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our transgender community has lost their sense of common humanity." Frey called for state and federal bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

  Governor Walz called the attack "a tragedy that brought devastation to a place that should be a safe space for children to learn" and ordered state flags to half-staff. A Minnesota lawmaker, Tom Emmer, called for repealing the state's transgender refuge law, passed in 2023.

  President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, "Please join me in praying for everyone involved!" He later issued a proclamation ordering flags at half-staff nationwide through the 31st of August 2025, and he called Walz to offer condolences. The special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis field office promised to "devote every available resource to support this ongoing investigative effort".

  Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel each emphasized the shooter's gender identity in their statements. Le Monde reported that advisors to the administration did the same. Graham Allen, an advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said, "Trans violence is not only a mental illness. I believe it is demonic possession." Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon blamed transgender healthcare, although there was no evidence that Westman had begun a medical transition. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene used the shooting to call for federally criminalizing transgender care for minors. Multiple news organizations reported that the Department of Justice began looking into ways to limit transgender people's ability to own firearms.

  Asked whether psychiatric medications might be linked to violence, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was "launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence". Minnesota Senator Tina Smith answered on social media with a sharp rebuke.

  On the 3rd of September, Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, privately visited the church and a local hospital to meet families. Afterward, one parent of a child who died shared a letter to Vance urging common-sense bipartisan legislation to end mass shootings.

  Le Monde described a "unified reaction" among right-leaning influencers, who framed the attack as "trans terrorism". Elon Musk and Benny Johnson shared posts falsely alleging a pattern of violence tied to trans identity. Data showed that only 0.11 percent, or 5 of roughly 5,700, of mass shooting suspects over the previous decade were transgender. Donald Trump Jr. said "there is no more violent group in the world per capita that the trans community". He also repeated the falsehood that the 2022 Uvalde school shooting and the 2024 shootings at Perry High School and Apalachee High School were committed by trans individuals. Matt Walsh said, "now is precisely the moment when trans militants are the MOST dangerous." Chloe Cole alleged the shooting could be a natural result of society supporting transgender people in their identities.

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• 8. Calls for Action

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  On the 1st of September, more than 100 students and parents gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol to demand stricter gun laws. Many called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. A similar rally at the Lake Harriet bandshell combined calls for gun control with remembrance of the victims. The parents of both children who died had already issued statements memorializing them and thanking the community for its support.

  Everytown, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action released a joint statement. Everytown president John Feinblatt said, "All signs point to this tragedy being perpetrated by an assault weapon... How many more Americans must die before lawmakers ban these weapons of war?" Moms Demand Action executive director Angela Ferrell-Zabala said, "Our places of education and worship should be places of refuge, not battlefields."

  Gabby Giffords, founder of the group GIFFORDS, said she was "devastated" and urged lawmakers to act. Nicole Hockley, co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, said, "Our children deserve more than moments of silence, thoughts and prayers. They deserve action." Her co-founder Mark Barden stressed recognizing warning signs to prevent violence. Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers and Abbey Clements of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence added that schools should be safe havens.

  On CNN, Parkland survivor David Hogg argued that Congress should raise CDC and National Institutes of Health funding to study gun violence, and that it could pass through budget reconciliation. He also criticized President Trump's record since Parkland.

  The Uvalde Foundation for Kids, a non-profit formed after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, announced an initiative to raise funds for the families of victims in the Minneapolis shootings.

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