Locked Doors Saved 'Countless Lives' in Church Shooting

Police chief says shooter was unable to get into Annunciation Church, couldn't see children
Posted Aug 28, 2025 7:15 PM CDT
Chief: Church's Locked Doors Saved 'Countless Lives'
The damaged windows are boarded up at Annunciation Catholic Church, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Minneapolis.   (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

The death toll in Wednesday's mass shooting in Minneapolis could have been far higher if it wasn't for Annunciation Church's practice of locking its doors when morning Mass begins, the city's police chief said Thursday. "After the Mass had begun, the doors to the church were locked, so this coward had to fire from outside of the church through the church windows and into the church," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told Today. "And we believe (the shooter) not being able to get into the church likely saved countless lives." The chief said surveillance video showed that Robin Westman was unable to get into the church and couldn't see the children while firing through its stained glass windows, the AP reports.

Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed at Annunciation Catholic School's first Mass of the school year. Another 14 children and three parishioners in their 80s were injured. O'Hara said five victims were released from hospitals Thursday, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. "And what we were bracing for, thank God has not come to pass, were additional deaths of children," he said. One child is still in critical condition. The chief said investigators have recovered three shotgun shells and 116 rifle rounds, along with a live round from Westman's handgun, which apparently jammed, reports the New York Times.

Westman, a former Annunciation Catholic School student, died by suicide after the attack. Westman left "dark and violent" videos and writings but authorities say the motive remains unclear. Acting US Attorney Joe Thompson said Westman "expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable," apart from mass murderers, the AP reports. "More than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children—defenseless children," he said, per the Times. "The shooter was obsessed with the idea of killing children."

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