Three dead, 17 injured in shooting at Minneapolis Catholic school

Two children were killed and 17 other people were injured on Wednesday after a gunman opened fire on schoolchildren who were attending Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, authorities said, Report informs via Reuters.

The assailant, wielding a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, fired dozens of rounds through the church windows, officials said. The shooter then took his own life, they said.

"This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters.

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 At least two people were killed and more than a dozen were hurt in a shooting during morning drop-off at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, multiple sources told ABC News, Report informs.

The shooter is "contained" and there's "no active threat to the community," city officials said. The suspect is believed to be deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources said.

Students in pre-K to eighth grade attend the school. Young children wearing their uniforms were seen leaving the school holding their parents" hands.

"I"m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote on social media.

Brian Leege, who lives two blocks from the school, told ABC News he was having breakfast with his daughter when he heard dozens of gunshots over two to three minutes.

"My husband's a firefighter, and he got a phone call this morning [that] said that there was a incident at Annunciation, and that's where my niece and nephew go to school ... so he just took off on foot," Emily Feste told Minneapolis ABC affiliate KSTP. "We heard about 15 minutes ago that they're safe. But it's so awful and it's so scary."

Walz said state authorities are at the scene. Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded.

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he's been "fully briefed on the tragic shooting."

"The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!" he wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security is monitoring the shooting, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

"I am praying for the victims of this heinous attack and their families," she said.