The mayor of Minneapolis has called for a statewide and federal ban on assault weapons after a deadly school shooting.
Two children, aged eight and 10, were killed during mass at Annunciation Catholic School in the Minnesota city on Wednesday.
Police said Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman, opened fire with a rifle through the windows of the school’s church as children sat in pews.
A day after the shooting, Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference that he is committed to “not just being another politician to say ‘never again'” as he called for a change to gun policy.
He said: “Thoughts and prayers are not going to cut it. It’s on all of us to see this through.”
“We need to talk about the action steps that need to take place,” he added. “We need a statewide and a federal ban on assault weapons.
“We need a statewide and a federal ban on high-capacity magazines. There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload.
“We’re not talking about your father’s hunting rifle gear. We’re talking about guns that are built to pierce armour and kill people.”
It comes after the FBI director Kash Patel said the agency gathered information and evidence on the shooting “demonstrating this was an act of domestic terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology.”
On Wednesday, the FBI said it was investigating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism” and a “hate crime targeting Catholics”.
Mr Patel said that the suspect had left anti-Catholic and anti-religious references both in their manifesto and written on their firearms, and an “explicit call for violence against President Trump” written on a firearm magazine.
City and public safety officials also said they had identified one more injured person in the shooting, bringing the total to 18.
A total of 15 children, aged between six and 15 years old, were injured.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also commented on the “horrible tragedy” on Thursday, calling the attacker “deranged”.
She told reporters, “this sacred religious service was desecrated by this evil monster”, before praising emergency workers and saying Donald Trump had contacted Governor Tim Walz.
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Child in critical condition, says hospital chief
Thomas Klemond, interim CEO of Minneapolis’s main trauma hospital Hennepin Healthcare, said at a news conference earlier that the hospital was treating nine patients injured in the shooting.
He added that of those, six are in a stable condition, while two – one adult and one child – are in a serious condition, and another child is in a critical condition.
Children’s Minnesota Hospital also said that three children remain in its care as of Thursday morning.
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