Minn. Jewish mayor: 3 dead, 17 shot as “kids were literally praying” in Catholic school

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

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who is Jewish, said at a press conference outside the school. “These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School.

O’Hara said the sho