At least two students killed after shooting at Minneapolis school, local police say

At least two students have been killed and 17 others wounded after a shooting on Wednesday morning at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.

Speaking a press conference, Minneapolis chief of police Brian O'Hara slammed the "sheer cruelty and cowardice" of the shooting which happened at the school's church during morning mass.

O'Hara said the unnamed shooter “began firing a rifle through the church windows" and that he was "armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol."

The police chief said the two pupils killed were aged eight and 10.

The shooter then shot and killed himself. A motive for the shooting is not known.

The state’s governor, Tim Walz, called the attack "horrific."

"I'm praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence," he wrote in a post on X.

Children's Minnesota, a paediatric trauma hospital, said in a statement five children were admitted for care. Hennepin Healthcare, Minnesota's largest emergency department, said it also was caring for patients from the shooting.

As police, FBI and other federal agents and ambulances converged on the school, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he was briefed on the "tragic shooting" and that the White House would continue to monitor it.

The school was evacuated, and students' families later were directed to a "reunification zone" at the school.

Dating to 1923, the pre-kindergarten to 13-14 years school was holding a morning mass on the first day of term, according to its website.

Recent social media posts from the school show children smiling at a back-to-school event, holding up summer art projects, playing together and enjoying ice pops.

The gunfire was the latest in a series of fatal shootings in the city in less than 24 hours.

One person was killed and six others were hurt in a shooting on Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in Minneapolis. Hours later, two people died in two other shootings in the city.

Wednesday's school shooting also followed a spate of hoax calls about purported shootings on at least a dozen US college campuses.

The bogus warnings, sometimes featuring gunshot sounds in the background, prompted universities to issue texts to “run, hide, fight” and frightened students around the nation as the school year begins.