NEW: FBI Investigating Minnesota Shooting As Hate Crime Against Catholics

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating Wednesday’s mass shooting targeting Catholic school students in Minneapolis as an act of terrorism and an anti-Catholic hate crime.

In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed when the transgender-identifying gunman opened fire during a school-wide mass. In addition, 14 children and three adults were injured in the attack.

“The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics,” Patel announced in a social media post. The director further confirmed that the gunman has been identified as Robin Westman, a biological male who started identifying as a female when he was 17-years-old.

According to court records reviewed by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the gunman’s parents allowed him to change his name to “Robin” while he was still a minor.

“We have confirmation that the shooter at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN was a 22 year-old man, claiming to be transgender,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in a post of her own. “This deranged monster targeted our most vulnerable: young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year. This deeply sick murderer scrawled the words ‘For the Children’ and ‘Where is your God?’ and ‘Kill Donald Trump’ on a rifle magazine.”

Noem’s post seemingly confirms reports that the gunman uploaded a manifesto and a number of disturbing videos to YouTube shortly before carrying out the attack. In a nod to the Christchurch mosque shooter, Westman scribbled a number of messages on his firearms and magazines, a number of which contained nods to far-left ideology and anti-Christian extremism.

In addition to the aforementioned messages, one of the videos contained an image of a gun range target topped by a photo of Jesus Christ.

“This level of violence is unthinkable. Our deepest prayers are with the children, parents, families, educators, and Christians everywhere. We mourn with them, we pray for healing, and we will never forget them,” Noem added.

Police said the suspect was dressed in black and armed with a rifle, pistol and shotgun when he fired through the church’s windows toward children sitting in the pews during their first week back at school. Westman then took his own life behind the building after carrying out the attack.

According to a report from Fox 9 Minneapolis, Westman’s mother previously worked at Annunciation. The shooter’s mother also applied to change her child’s name from Robert to Robin in Dakota County in 2019, according to court documents reviewed by the outlet.

According to the name change filing, Westman identified “as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”