'SHEER CRUELTY AND COWARDICE'

Two dead, 17 wounded as 23-year-old opens fire on schoolchildren in church in latest US gun outrage

- BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN US Editor

TWO children were killed and 17 wounded when a gunman opened fire in a school's church.

The killer, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, took his own life following the bloodbath.

He sprayed dozens of rounds from a rifle, shotgun and pistol through the windows into a congregation of children and worshippers.

Two pupils aged eight and 10 were killed where they sat. Of those injured, 14 are children and two were in a critical condition last night.

The horror unfolded just after 8.30am local time yesterday during the first mass of the school year at the church of the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US.

The city’s police chief Brian O'Hara said: “The sheer cruelty and cowardice - firing into a church full of children - is incomprehensible.