Shootings

Caitlyn Jenner opened up about losing her friend Sophia Hutchins just a few months ago ... relating it to the grief parents at a Minnesota Catholic school may be feeling after a mass shooting took the lives of two kids this week.

The reality star got real about her sorrow on "Fox News at Night" Thursday, explaining she's been "dealing with death" for the past seven weeks ... and, it's been especially difficult in the immediate aftermath.

She said ... “Here I am dealing with my grief, and I just can’t even imagine parents who dropped their kid off at school and, like that father just said, ‘I’ll never get a chance to talk to him again.’ That is just so horrible. I’ve been dealing with grief, and these people have a long road ahead of them, and they’re going to be dealing with grief.”

Olivia Hill is urging the public not to blame the entire transgender community for the actions of one disturbed individual ... claiming identity doesn't matter in situations like the recent Minneapolis shooting, but actions do.

We caught up with the Metropolitan Council Member-at-Large of Nashville and Davidson County in Tennessee -- an openly transgender woman who took office in 2023 -- and she says Robin Westman, the Annunciation School shooter who was reportedly trans, was a horrible person ... simple as that.

Hill says she doesn't care about a person's race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity ... insisting all those markers should be stripped away when discussing heinous crimes.

Jessie Merkel -- the father of 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel, who was killed during the shooting at a Catholic school in Minnesota Wednesday -- spoke out Thursday in a heartbreaking speech.

Merkel started out by calling Robin Westman -- the shooter who cops say fired more than 100 rounds through the windows of a church into a schoolwide Mass -- a coward ... adding Robin's actions robbed him and his partner of years with their son.

Merkel says Fletcher enjoyed fishing, cooking, playing sports and spending time with loved ones ... and, he asks people to try to remember the kind of kid Fletcher was, instead of thinking only of his tragic death.

A former FBI profiler says the public needs to take a more active role in identifying and reporting signs of potential mass shooters to the proper officials ... in light of devastating attacks like the one at a Catholic school in Minnesota Wednesday.

We spoke with Mary Ellen O'Toole -- a former profiler and author who wrote a prominent report on the Columbine High School shooting back in the day -- on "TMZ Live" ... and, she told us it matters to determine motive because these shooters aren't just "crazy."

O'Toole says past behavior plays a huge role in explaining why these shootings happen ... and the reasons are never as simple as good versus evil.

The Minnesota Catholic school shooting that left 2 kids dead and 17 people injured caused widespread panic ... and now there's new video capturing students in a mad rush for the exits.

CNN released the wild footage Thursday, which shows dozens of kids stampeding out of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis the day before. Older students are seen hurrying younger ones through a set of doors, kids cowering behind pews, and others simply weeping.

Adults seem to be urging scared kids to run to them in order to escape the house of worship ... and, as you can see, CNN's blurred a section in the background. Unclear what exactly they covered up here.

Robin Westman -- who killed 2 kids and injured 17 people in a targeted shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis Wednesday -- reportedly wrote a long-winded manifesto and uploaded a number of strange videos prior to the attack.

According to CNN ... investigators are currently examining -- and trying to authenticate -- YouTube videos allegedly posted by the shooter in order to gain more insight into a possible motive for the violence.

The videos in question -- and the account itself -- have since been taken down, but Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters Westman had a "manifesto" scheduled to be published on YouTube Wednesday ... when authorities say Westman shot into morning Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol.

Law enforcement responding to a mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school called for a bunch of medical personnel and resources to handle a large number of gunshot victims ... including one person who took a bullet to the head ... police dispatch audio reveals.

Listening to police radio, it's clear something awful is unfolding at Annunciation Catholic School ... officers say someone is suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, and that's just one of many victims.

Police call for a "a lot more medical" and say they need help clearing roads so ambulances can come pick up victims and transport them to hospitals.

12:35 PM PT -- FBI Director Kash Patel announced an update to the case on X ... saying the suspect was "identified as Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman." Patel said the FBI is investigating the shooting as domestic terrorism and a "hate crime targeting Catholics."

10:40 AM PT -- The Associated Press reports an unnamed law enforcement official says authorities identified the shooting suspect as Robin Westman ... local outlets KARE and KSTP also report sources have confirmed the same name. NBC News reports the same name, and said law enforcement officials confirmed Westman posted multiple videos online referencing violence.

Police rushed to a Catholic school in Minneapolis in response to a shooting Wednesday morning during Mass ... at least two children are dead and as many as 17 people were injured.

According to KSTP-TV, dozens of law enforcement officers responded to the pre-K through 8th-grade Annunciation Catholic School around 8:40 AM local time. Personnel from the FBI, Minnesota State Patrol, Minneapolis Police and ATF were at the scene, according to local reports.

The suspected shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene. At least 16 kids are being treated at local hospitals, according to CNN.