The police in Minneapolis announced that in the shooting at the Catholic school"Blagovesti" on Wednesday three people were killed, among them two children and the attacker, while 17 people were wounded, of which 14 were children. The murdered children are eight and ten years old.

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Attacker shot during mass

At a press conference, Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the gunman, armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a handgun, approached the side of the church and shot through the windows at children sitting in the pews during mass.

O'Hara confirmed that the suspect was dead, that was about 20 years old and that he had no significant criminal record.

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Confirmation by authorities - no further danger

The authorities announced that the attacker had been"neutralized" and that there was no longer an "active threat" to residents.

Bill Bienemann, a man who lives a few blocks from the school and has attended Mass at Annunciation Church for years, said he heard dozens of gunshots, perhaps as many as 50, over four minutes.

- I was in shock. I said to myself,"There's no way it's a shooting." There were so many shots, intermittently, but it lasted - he declared.

Reaction of former students

His daughter, Alexandra Bienemann, who attended the school from kindergarten through eighth grade and graduated in 2014, said she was shaking and crying when she heard the news.

- My heart is broken, I feel sick to my stomach when I think that people I know could be hurt or even killed. I no longer feel safe at all in the community where I grew up - Aleksandra said.