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Soon: Police Update MN School Shooting Investigation; Students and Parents Describe Terror of Minneapolis Shooting; Police Update Investigation into Deadly School Shooting; Police: 116 Rifle Rounds, 3 Shotgun Shells, 1 Live Pistol Round from Apparent Misfire Recovered; Police: No Known "Specific Grievance" Against Church or School. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 28, 2025 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Thanks so much for joining us this hour. I'm Boris Sanchez in Washington, D.C., alongside Laura Coates live in Minneapolis, where any moment police are expected to give an update on their investigation into the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School. Children today leaving flowers at a memorial for other children after two kids were killed, 18 other people injured when gunfire erupted during a morning mass. The majority of those injured just kids.

And a warning, the next video we're about to show you is disturbing. It was taken as students were rushing out of the church following the shooting. This is from a parent who captured the terror as he searched for his daughters. Police say the number of people shot actually likely would have been much worse if the shooter had gotten inside the church. Instead, they believe the shooter fired through the church windows only because the doors for the mass were locked.

Let's go live to Laura Coates now where this police news conference is about to begin. And we are hoping that officers will answer a number of outstanding questions, Laura.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: And there are a number of questions. Even though the shooter is dead, the law enforcement investigation really is in its infancy trying to figure out what happened here. Did anyone else know what was going on? This person did get the weapons legally and apparently recently as well. But they're going to comb through with their search warrants. So much information.

And I can't express to people enough about what a neighborhood we're in the middle of right now. A grocery store, a Starbucks, different businesses now beginning to put up signs that say "We Heart Annunciation." All up and down the street, you've got people who are putting flowers and other materials at a makeshift memorial, even saying we are spirit strong referring to it. I have Whitney Wild with me as well, who has been covering this so

well throughout the courses. And far too many instances, you and I have been in these situations learning about this. This school, this community is really one right now. But what is the very latest we're hearing from law enforcement about this investigation?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, it continues to unfold. What we know is that law enforcement has executed four search warrants. Three were at the residences connected to the shooter. At this point, the key piece of evidence here is what we're learning from a senior law enforcement official. CNN's John Miller has this excellent piece of reporting.

What they found was that this shooter, who is a former student who graduated in 2017, whose mother was an employee here, came back to the church at some point within the last few weeks. And in this moment, this, you know, someone from the church interacted with the shooter and said, basically, like, what are you doing here. And he's - the shooter and said, I'm here because I'd like to reconnect with my Catholic faith. I just wanted to look around.

You know, a moment that looks maybe heartfelt, maybe hopeful, now looks evil in hindsight, because what law enforcement believes is that that was not a moment to reconnect with the Catholic faith, but instead was a reconnaissance tour. How do they know that? Because in some of the videos, there is a hand-drawn diagram of the church in some of these videos that are connected to the shooter. And so, what we know is that, that was, you know, a moment as he ramped up to, you know, enact this pure moment of evil.

We are also learning more about what was recovered from the search warrants. Law enforcement is saying that no more firearms were recovered from the search warrants.

COATES: At least three were used in this, right?

WILD: Yes, at least three were used in this. They were purchased recently. They were purchased legally. How many times have you heard that as we cover these shootings? So common.

COATES: And Minnesota has red flag laws. And so, the idea of this person not being known other than maybe a traffic citation or something ...

WILD: Right. Yes, not known to law enforcement. Presented no risk, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara. No risk. No -- nothing in the background that would have precluded the shooter from purchasing a firearm. This is an unbelievable tragedy. But there, you know, there were heroes everywhere. The teachers, the students, the parents.

We know now that the number of victims has grown to 18. Fifteen students were injured. Some are still fighting for their lives. One child took the bullets to the back as he saved another student. It's just truly remarkable. Here's an interview we did earlier today with a third grader - a third grader telling us what she experienced that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE, THIRD-GRADE SHOOTING SURVIVOR: My group went to the gym, and that's where I saw my little sister.

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And then the way we got out was we went to the auditorium and - we went to the auditorium and then we had to get out by like signing something. And then, when we got out, there was like a lot - like a lot, a lot of police cars and there were some ambulances and fire trucks. I didn't know what it was at first. I thought things were falling. I thought -- and then I realized nothing was falling. Then, I thought it was a fire. And then, I realized when we went to a preschool, someone got in.

I know my -- one of my best friends, Ellan (ph), is okay. I know that. And I know my little sister, Daisy is okay and I know some people that are okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: That memorial now is so big, Laura. And, you know, it's just so gut wrenching to see a child write a letter to their classmate who is now dead. It's just - it's really hard to put into words how horrible this is.

COATES: It's unbelievable. There are no words. And as we're all trying to piece together what has happened here with an eye towards not only understanding the motive, not because it's a justification, but trying to understand what happened with an eye towards prevention and deterrence and a comprehensive investigation.

I want to turn now to Jillian Peterson, a professor of criminology, because I need to better understand from you how you go from an investigation at this infancy right now to trying, as you've heard, the FBI or the law enforcement community more broadly to figure out what the profile of this shooter would have been. Can you explain about some of the things you've learned through the investigation so far, what you are piecing together in terms of that identity profile?

Jillian Peterson, professor of criminology, Hamline University: Yes, what we're seeing emerge is a profile or a pathway that looks really similar to previous school shooters. A man or male in his early 20s to ...

COATES: I'm sorry, excuse me, I want to come back to you. One second, Professor. I want to go right to the press conference happening right now with the police chief. Listen in.

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: Even in the face of evil, the Minneapolis Police Department and all of our law enforcement partners collectively stand together with you. We stand with our families that have been affected by this senseless violence, as well as with the parish community. We will continue to be here for all of you. The men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department who responded

yesterday did not hesitate. At 8:27 A.M., 911 began to receive initial calls of shots being fired. By 8:31, a Minneapolis police officer in a regular uniform with no helmet, no SWAT gear ran into the church and was met by a parishioner who directed him towards where the gunman had been. The parishioner later told me that was the first time that he, the children and others there had any sense that they might be safe and survive.

The members that responded yesterday exemplified the motto that is on the Minneapolis police squad cars: "To protect with courage and to serve with compassion." All of our law enforcement partners, first responders and many children, members of the school staff and parishioners of Annunciation Catholic Church all showed incredible courage yesterday in the face of unspeakable horror.

As the investigation continues, we will continue working alongside our county, state and federal law enforcement partners as we continue to be critical as we piece together exactly what happened. At this time, we have identified a total of twenty victims that had injuries resulting from gunfire, including the eight- and ten-year-old who were killed yesterday.

Fifteen of the injured are children between the ages of six and fifteen. Three of those injured are adults in their 80s. Those who remain hospitalized need all of our support as we continue to pray for a speedy recovery for all of our victims. During the processing of the scene at Enunciation Church yesterday, three shotgun shells were recovered, along with approximately 116 rifle rounds.

One live round was recovered from a handgun that appears to have malfunctioned as the shooter attempted to use it and became stuck in the chamber.

There were four search warrants that were executed yesterday. One at the church.

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The others were executed at residences believed to be associated with the shooter. One of those residences was in the city of Minneapolis. A second one was in Richfield and a third one was in St. Louis Park, which are both bordering municipalities.

Additional evidence was recovered as a result of these warrants. Literally, hundreds of pieces of evidence have been recovered thus far, which include electronic devices that will be further searched and processed. It now becomes our job collectively, with all of law enforcement, to process that evidence. And so, this investigation will continue and we will follow all of the evidence to its logical conclusion.

I am aware, however, that this may not ultimately provide the answers that our public is looking for. When something terrible happens, the public expects law enforcement to provide some explanation for what happened. But the reality is, this is an unthinkable, completely senseless act. Violence perpetrated against children, worshipping at mass. And no investigation, no evidence will ever be able to make sense of such an unthinkable tragedy.

That being said, we will do our best to determine and identify a specific motive. What we have seen so far is this is an individual who, unfortunately, like so many other mass shooters that we have seen in this country, too often, and around the world, had some deranged fascination with previous mass shootings and very disturbing writings that demonstrate hatred towards many different individuals and different groups of people. And he fantasized about the plans of other mass shooters. Unfortunately, again, this has become all too common in our society.

That being said, we know ultimately the purpose of the shooter's actions was to obtain notoriety for the shooter themselves. That being said, I have only said the name of this shooter once. And I'm asking members of the media to stop saying the shooter's name. That was the whole purpose of why he did this heinous act, to obtain that notoriety for themselves.

As schools in our city are beginning to start this week and next, we are working with all of our law enforcement partners, county sheriffs, state troopers, and surrounding municipalities that are helping the city of Minneapolis as we step up police presence, both in and around schools and around all of our houses of worship in the city.

Many of our law enforcement partners are also supplementing patrols, and we could not be more grateful. This has truly been a collective effort in partnership with our community. We also must say that we will be forever in debt to all of the doctors, nurses, and paramedics who responded, who are caring for these victims in this incident.

I cannot tell you how incredibly grateful we are for all of the love and support that has been pouring in from all around the country, both for the first responders who initially responded, entered that church, and dealt with the unthinkable, and for all of the victims and families that have received that love and support as well.

The Minneapolis Police Department and our community have a long road ahead of us to heal, and we need everyone to continuing to show their support after the cameras once again leave this city.

I'd like to invite up the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Joe Thompson.

JOSEPH THOMPSON, ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA: Good afternoon. My name is Joe Thompson. I'm the acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota.

Yesterday, Minnesota was attacked. It was an attack first and foremost on our children and our families, an attack at a school and in a place of worship. It was also an attack on our city, our state, and our country. The U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, ATF, and other federal law enforcement are working with state and local partners to investigate this heinous act. Our investigation is twofold. First, we are seeking to confirm what we

believe to be true, which is that the shooter acted alone and that no one else was involved, that the threat died with the shooter yesterday.

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We believe that to be true, but we'll leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety of our community.

Second, we are investigating the motive. Why and how this happened. The shooter left behind hundreds of pages of writings. Writings that describe the shooter's plan, writings that describe the shooter's mental state, and more than anything, writings that describe the shooter's hate, pure indiscriminate hate.

The shooter expressed hate towards almost every group of manageable. The shooter express hate towards black people. The shooter express hate towards Mexican people. The shooter expressed hate towards Christian people. The shooter expressed hate towards Jewish people.

In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us. The shooter's heart was full of hate.

There appears to be only one group that the shooter didn't hate. One group of people who the shooter admired. The group were the school shooters and mass murderers that are notorious in this country. The shooter idolized some of the most notorious school shooters and mass murderers in our country's history. I won't name them, just like I won't name the shooter. They don't deserve to have their names remembered.

As I said, the shooter left behind hundreds of pages of writings. There is a lot to digest and we'll know more in the coming days and weeks as we've had an opportunity to go through them. But reading them, one thing is clear and it's going to be hard to hear, but it's important to the question of why this happened.

More than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children, defenseless children. The shooter was obsessed with the idea of killing children. The shooter saw the attack as a way to target our most vulnerable among us while they were at their most vulnerable at school and at church. I won't dignify the shooter's words by repeating them. They are horrific and vile, but in short, the shooter wanted to watch children suffer.

Yesterday was a tragedy for this city and our state. My heart goes out to the entire Annunciation community. Their loss is unmanageable. I want the state of Minnesota to know that when a tragedy like this occurs, we all stand together. Federal, state and local law enforcement work together side by side. The FBI, the ATF, the BCA, Minneapolis Police Department, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, including their victim advocates who have been working with the families yesterday and today. The list goes on. This has been a tough summer for Minnesota, but I take heart knowing

that we all stand together in confronting this evil. Thank you. I'll turn it back to Chief O'Hara.

O'HARA: A little bit up for some questions and answer what we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI Director Kash Patel put out some details today, including that there was a threat against President Trump, that there were some messages such as Israel must fall in free Palestine and that it is being investigated as a hate crime. There's evidence of a hate crime. Can you speak to what the FBI director put out?

THOMPSON: Well, I haven't talked to Director Patel, but certainly there's evidence of hate. As I mentioned, the shooter expressed hate towards many groups, including the Jewish community and including President Trump. So obviously, as in most cases where there's a mass shooting at a house of worship or a school, federal law enforcement will work with state and local law enforcement to investigate to make sure what happened - we know what happened and we prosecute as appropriate.

O'HARA: I would just add to that, Matt (ph), that there is no question in this case that this shooter intended to terrorize the Children, the school members of the school community. The parishioners were inside of that church. So whatever label we want to put on it is almost - is regardless of the fact that is - it is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorize those innocent children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the manifestos, I guess, mentions a belief that the shooter was under an FBI investigation. Are you - does anyone able to say whether or not that's true or whether this person showed up on any watch list or any federal radar at all?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. We did a check of all of our holdings, the FBI holdings, and he was not in our holdings prior to this incident. So, we didn't have anything on him at that time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. And is there any kind of mental health diagnosis that anyone is aware of?

O'HORA: There is no diagnosis that I'm aware of that I can share. I can tell you, we are not aware of any state-ordered mental health commitments for this individual.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you talk about (INAUDIBLE) the new details come out about the moments inside the church?

O'HORA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About the doors being locked.

O'HARA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) could you talk to us about that? O'HARA: So, the question was about the doors being locked at the church. Annunciation Church had a practice that once mass began, they locked the doors of the church. This incident occurred shortly after the mass was beginning. So, there's no question that the fact that the doors were locked likely saved additional lives. At the same time, we also know that the shooter intended to barricade and did barricade the doors on the same side of the church where the shooting occurred.

So, what's particularly heinous and cowardly about this is these Children were slaughtered by a shooter who could not see them. He was standing outside of the building, firing through very narrow church windows on the level where they would line up with the pews. And even ultimately, when he got to the rear of the church was an entryway that's, you know, basically all glass and fired out the window where a person could walk in, ultimately did not walk in. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) doors were locked from the inside or from the outside. (INAUDIBLE) that you can't get in from the outside.

O'HARA: The question is about the doors being locked.

Yes, the doors were locked intentionally by the church from the inside, and that's a practice that they had in place once mass had begun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know (INAUDIBLE) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a social medial post (INAUDIBLE) admiration of previous school shooters. Why was he able to obtain a weapon of that (INAUDIBLE) ...

O'HARA: So, the question was due to previous social media posts, why was the individual able to obtain a weapon? We have nothing in the evidence that we have acquired so far that would indicate that he is a person - that he did not lawfully purchase these weapons. He did not have a criminal history. The only thing that we are aware of is a traffic ticket. He did not have any state ordered commitments for mental health.

So, of everything that we have seen so far, it did not rise to the level where he would have been a person prohibited from purchasing a firearm. Yes, Uba (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) if the shooter went to the church weeks prior and if so, how long before the shooting happened?

O'HARA: Okay. So, Uba's question was if the shooter did go to the church weeks prior. We cannot specifically confirm that at this time, but that is obviously a part of the investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) connection of the church and school?

O'HARA: Yes. So, the question was the connection of the shooter to the church and school. We do know that the shooter did attend mass there previously. The shooter did attend school and the shooter's mother was an employee of the parish previously for some time. So obviously, there is a connection between that shooter and this

particular parish and the school there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, what can you tell us about (INAUDIBLE) victim? You mentioned that - another victim you mentioned today, how is that child doing?

O'HARA: So, there's one additional child that was injured by gunfire that we weren't aware of at the time of the last briefing. They were transported by private vehicle to a hospital outside of the city, and the report was actually made to police after they had been treated and released. So, the injuries to the Children range from, in this case, as you'd call like a graze wound from gunfire all to again some very serious life-threatening injuries.

We have some victims that have been released by the hospital at this time. We anticipate, perhaps a few more today, but we still have some victims who are very seriously injured and in critical condition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even though there's no criminal record ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

O'HARA: Sorry, (INAUDIBLE) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... say even though there's no criminal record available by any police contacts where there was odd behavior, maybe that didn't raise the level of crime, but any jurisdiction that's come up.

O'HARA: So, the question was police contacts with odd behavior. There's nothing in Minneapolis where we did not have previous police contacts with him.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there anything where you can say today on the name change issue? I know that yesterday you confirmed that, but I know it's out there.

O'HARA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

O'HARA: So, the question was about the shooter's name change. We are aware that a few years ago, I think 2019, the shooter did have their name changed. We can confirm that. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the FBI spokesperson talking about (INAUDIBLE) any law enforcement you found a contact with that shooter's family previously (INAUDIBLE) ...

DREW EVANS, SUPERINTENDENT, MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION: I can try it for everybody. I'm Drew Evans, Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It depends on specifically what you're asking. We're aware of some

reports in the past. We are gathering those reports now. There will be additional information that we'll be able to share down the line.

But as the chief noted, and we think what is important in this and related to the question, this individual was not arrested for anything that would prohibit them from being able to purchase a firearm. There is no substantive police contact with this individual that would have raised concern to the level that would lead us to believe this sort of a situation would happen today.

The social media in terms of your question for that, just to be clear, the level set for everybody, there is a specific criteria in terms of how an individual can purchase a firearm legally in Minnesota. If those posts and information, I'll share it to - for everybody that we want to know going forward. This obviously is a terrible tragedy.

We need the help of the public and everybody else. If there's concerning social media behavior by anybody or that there's concern in their community that they're contacting their law enforcement so that we can adequately address that in the process, that did not happen in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, can you (INAUDIBLE) ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in terms of the evidence found with the search warrants, were you able to recover additional guns? And if so, were those registered and also legally purchased?

O'HARA: So, the question was in regard to the search warrant, were additional weapons recovered, the answer is no. Only the three weapons that were recovered at the scene. A 556 millimeter rifle, a shotgun and a pistol and all three were used during this incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, any history of gun training, because the shooter seemed fairly accurate.

O'HARA: We're not aware of at this time any history of gun training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any evidence that you have recovered that the shooter expressed any grievance against that particular church?

O'HARA: So, the question was any specific grievance against the church. We mentioned there is a connection to the parish, connection to the school, but we have not identified a triggering event or a specific grievance against the church that you could point to, to say, this is the reason for why this happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, I just want to clarify something you said. You said that the shooter attended mass in the weeks before the shooting.

O'HARA: I did not say that. So, the question was, did the shooter attend mass in the weeks before. We know that previously the shooter had attended that parish and had attended that school when they were younger. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything - you know, any evidence that

this person was radicalized or part of some online groups or anything like that that would have inspire this behavior?

O'HARA: Yes. So, the question was the - if the individual was radicalized, I guess, for a specific cause or a part of some online groups. And the answer is no, we have not found evidence of that other than again, just this fascination in general with many, many different previous mass shootings, mainly in this country, but also some from around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, any evidence to indicate why this particular church, just to kind of follow up on what I was asking, why this particular church was chosen (INAUDIBLE) ...

O'HARA: So, Matt's question is the question, why this particular church and other than the obvious, which we have said, the connection to being from that church, being from that school, mom having worked there, we have not found a specific trigger for why to target the Children at this church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On that note though, did the shooter seem aware that there was going to be this mass at this time that the kids would be there at that time?

O'HARA: So, it ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other than the obvious that they showed up and shot.

O'HARA: Yes. So, the question was that shooter be aware - was the shooter aware of this mass at this church. The answer would be yes. This was a daily mass, but this was special in that the children were attending to celebrate the first week of school, the beginning of a new school year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, are you able to give us an update - I know we've heard this from HCMC (ph) this morning on the injuries, who's hospitalized, how many, severity and you did mention that you expect some ...

O'HARA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... (INAUDIBLE) to be released.

O'HARA: So, the question was a total number of victims who remain hospitalized. I do not have (INAUDIBLE) ...

COATES: We've ...

O'HARA: ... specifically from the individual hospitals.

COATES: We've been hearing from the Police Chief here in Minneapolis, Brian O'Hara through an extensive press conference, giving the latest updates on what the investigation holds. We've heard that there are actually 20 victims - 20 victims. They learned of an additional victim as well, who've been transported via a private car to another hospital outside the jurisdiction, but is now safe.

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But the overall headline here for everyone out there, the horror that this person was targeting children wanted to ...