Officials say the striker of the Minnabolis School is obsessed with the idea of ​​killing children.

Investigators say that the attacker who opened fire on the students praying in a church in Minneapolis was “obsessed with the idea of ​​killing children.”

Robin Westman, who killed two children and wounded 18 others, does not seem to have any specific motivation, according to the head of the Minneapolis Brian Ouhara.

The president said on Thursday: “The attacker seemed to” all hate us, “adding:” More than anything else, the shooter wanted to kill the children. “

Children killed by the family as Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper Mossaki, 10 were identified.

His father, Jesse Merkel, told reporters.

“I love Fleisher his family, friends, fishing, cooking, and any sport allowed him to play,” he said.

“Give your children an additional hug and a kiss today. We love you, Fleisher. You will always be with us,” continued, strangle tears.

“She was bright, cheerful and deeply beloved, as she touched laughter, kindness and spirit everyone who knew her.”

“As a family, we are broken, and the words cannot capture the depth of our pain,” adding that they hope that “its memory is nourishing action” to stop weapons.

“The family should not carry this type of pain …. the change is possible, and this is necessary – so that the story of another Harper does not become in a long series of tragedies.”

Officials have released some details so far about the background of the suspect, but they say that Westman had previously joined the church school and had a mother who worked there.

The 23 -year -old suspect is believed to have approached the Church of the Annunciation, which also includes a school, and fired dozens of shots via windows using three firearms. The police also found a smoke bomb at the scene.

Witnesses describe the vision of children bleeding while fleeing the church, begging for help from strangers.

“The shooter expressed hatred towards many groups, including the Jewish community and President Trump,” said a press conference on Thursday.

Officials said that the attacker, who died at the place of a gunshot wound in himself, left a note, but added that the final motivation may not be known.

Mr. Thompson said: “I will not honor the striker’s words by repeating them, as they are horrific and sordid.”

The name Westman was legally changed from Robert to Robin in 2020, with the judge’s writing: “The minor child is considered a female.” However, some federal and police officials pointed to Westman as a man when discussing the attack.

O’Hara president told the correspondents that the news outlets should stop using the name of the murderer, because “the purpose of the shooter’s actions was obtaining a bad reputation.”

He added, “Like many other collectors that we saw in this country often and around the world, they had some disorganized magic with previous mass fire.”

For years, US officials have warned that mass shooting could lead to counterfeit killings, as the killers seek to become famous through their heinous crimes.

Many major news organizations have a policy of not identifying mass killers.

The FBI director, Cash Patel, described the attack as “a act of local terrorism out of an ideology full of hatred.”

In a post on X, Patel said that the attacker “left many anti -Catholic and anti -religion references” written on weapons and in the observations revealed by investigators.

He wrote: “A topic expresses hatred and violence towards the Jewish people, and the writing of Israel must fall”, “Free Palestine”, and the use of an explicit language related to the Holocaust. “

The murderer also “wrote a clear invitation to violence against President Trump in a firearm magazine.”

At their press conference, officials confirmed that the attacker had previously joined the school. Her mother, Mary Grace Westman, has previously worked at school, and she has not yet responded to the law enforcement attempts to contact her.

They also confirmed that three housing were linked to the attacker, who was from the suburbs of Minneapolis, had been searched by the police.

They said that the church closed its doors before its collective service began, probably saved many lives.

The officials added that the weapons used in the attack had been legally purchased, and that the killer did not appear in any government monitoring list, and that the police are not aware of any diagnoses or treatments related to the mental health they were receiving.

Witnesses and relatives of the victims who spoke to the BBC described horrific scenes of violence.

Patrick Scallin, who lives near the church, said he saw three children fleeing the building – one of them is a girl with head wounds.

“I said,” Please hold my hand, don’t leave me, “and I said I didn’t go anywhere.”

Vincent Frankol, his 11 -year -old daughter, said in the church when he fell, he tried not to panic after he heard the news.

It was called “sick” that children in the United States are trained to prepare for group shooting.

“We live in a country where we train children what to do. I did what she had to do,” he said.

“It is a pattern here. It is no longer a strange accident.”

“I told my wife that every morning, when we abandon our children, we don’t know if she will return safely.”

Mr. Frankul, who is originally from France, said that Chloe is afraid to return to school or church.

In the aftermath of the attack, many legislators, including the mayor of Minneapolis, called on the state to the age of a ban on the attacks.

“There is no reason that someone calls for 30 rounds before they have to re -download,” said Mayor Jacob Fry, who is also calling for a ban on high -capacity ammunition magazines.

“We are not talking about your father’s hunting rifle here. We are talking about weapons that were built for disgusting and killing people.”