Police have released new details about the killer in the US Catholic school shooting – including that they “idolised” mass murderers and they wanted to “watch children suffer”.
Two children, aged eight and 10, were killed during mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Eighteen other people were injured, including children aged between six and 15 and three adults in their 80s.
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.
In a news conference today, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the attacker fired 116 rifle rounds into the church.
“It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorise those innocent children,” he added.
The police chief said the killer “fantasised” about the plans of other mass shooting attackers and wanted to “obtain notoriety”.
Joe Thompson, acting US attorney for Minnesota, said evidence recovered of the killer’s plans showed “pure indiscriminate hate” and they “idolised some of the most notorious school shooters and mass murderers in our country’s history”
Mr Thompson added that the killer “wanted to watch children suffer”.
One child was in critical condition on Thursday while 11 other victims remained in hospitals.
Earlier, the mayor of Minneapolis called for a statewide and federal ban on assault weapons after the shooting, saying “thoughts and prayers are not going to cut it”.
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