The families of two children killed in the US Catholic school shooting have said their “hearts are broken” and branded the attacker a “coward”.

Fletcher Merkel who was eight and 10-year-old Harper Moyski were killed during mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Eighteen other people were injured, including children aged between six and 15 and three adults in their 80s.

Police said Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman, opened fire with a rifle through the windows of the school’s church as children sat in pews.

‘Our hearts are broken’

Harper’s parents, Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin, remembered her as “a bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her”.

“Our hearts are broken not only as parents, but also for Harper’s sister, who adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss. As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain,” their statement said.

They urged leaders and communities to “take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country.”

“Change is possible, and it is necessary – so that Harper’s story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies,” the statement added.

‘Fletcher loved his family’

In a statement reported by Sky’s US partner network NBC News, Fletcher’s father Jesse Merkel blamed the “coward” killer for why the boy’s family can’t “hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming”.

He said: “Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking, and any sports that he was allowed to play.

“While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that in time, our family can find healing.”

Mr Merkel also praised “the swift and heroic actions of children and adults alike from inside the church”.

“Without these people and their selfless actions, this could have been a tragedy of many magnitudes more. For these people, I am thankful,” he added.

Mayor calls for assault weapon ban

It comes after Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey called for a statewide and federal ban on assault weapons, a day after the deadly school shooting.

“Thoughts and prayers are not going to cut it. It’s on all of us to see this through,” the mayor said at a news conference. “We need a statewide and a federal ban on assault weapons.

“We need a statewide and a federal ban on high-capacity magazines. There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload.

“We’re not talking about your father’s hunting rifle gear. We’re talking about guns that are built to pierce armour and kill people.”

Meanwhile, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara gave an update on the investigation, saying the suspect had fired 116 rifle rounds into the church.

“It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorise those innocent children,” he added, before saying the killer “fantasised” about the plans of other mass shooting attackers and wanted to “obtain notoriety”.

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Thomas Klemond, interim CEO of Minneapolis’s main trauma hospital Hennepin Healthcare, said at an earlier news conference that the hospital was treating nine patients injured in the shooting.

One child at the hospital was in a critical condition, he added.

Children’s Minnesota Hospital also said that three children remain in its care as of Thursday morning.

Police have released new details about the killer in the US Catholic school shooting – including that they “idolised” mass murderers and they wanted to “watch children suffer”.

Two children, aged eight and 10, were killed during mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

The victims have been named as Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, – click here to read more

Eighteen other people were injured, including children aged between six and 15 and three adults in their 80s.

Police said Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman, opened fire with a rifle through the windows of the school’s church as children sat in pews.

Almost 120 rifle rounds fired, police chief says

In a news conference on Thursday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the attacker fired 116 rifle rounds into the church.

“It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorise those innocent children,” he added.

The police chief said the killer “fantasised” about the plans of other mass shooting attackers and wanted to “obtain notoriety”.

When asked about the attacker obtaining the firearms used legally, Mr O’Hara said that they did not have a criminal history or any diagnosed mental health disorders.

While they had potentially concerning social media posts, the police chief added that there was no evidence to suggest that Westman was legally barred from purchasing a firearm.

Suspect ‘wanted to watch children suffer’

Joe Thompson, acting US attorney for Minnesota, also said evidence recovered of the killer’s plans showed “pure indiscriminate hate” and that they “idolised some of the most notorious school shooters and mass murderers in our country’s history”.

“I won’t dignify the shooter’s words by repeating them,” Mr Thompson added. “They are horrific and vile, but in short, the shooter wanted to watch children suffer.”

Earlier, the mayor of Minneapolis called for a statewide and federal ban on assault weapons after the deadly attack, saying “thoughts and prayers are not going to cut it”.

“There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload,” Jacob Frey said.

“We’re not talking about your father’s hunting rifle gear. We’re talking about guns that are built to pierce armour and kill people.”

Thomas Klemond, interim CEO of Minneapolis’s main trauma hospital Hennepin Healthcare, said at a news conference that the hospital was treating nine patients injured in the shooting.

One child at the hospital was in a critical condition, he added.

Children’s Minnesota Hospital also said that three children remain in its care as of Thursday morning.

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In a post on Facebook, the hospital said “there are no words to describe the overwhelming pain many are feeling”, adding: “We feel that pain with you.

“To the entire Annunciation community, you have our deepest condolences. During this time of unimaginable grief and loss, we want you to know that we at Children’s Minnesota are with you.

“We will always be here to care for you. And in this moment, we hurt alongside you.”

After all those raised hopes of peace, Ukraine has been hit by the second-worst night of Russian air attacks since the war began.

So much for diplomacy, despite the Alaska summit, then the Washington DC meeting.

The Kremlin says it was aiming at military targets, but yet again, the pictures tell a very different story.

Follow latest: UK summons Putin’s ambassador

One civilian building after another was hit, more than a dozen people were killed and British Council and EU buildings were also damaged.

So what’s going on? Why is Vladimir Putin doing it?

Because he can.

The Russian president thinks he’s winning this war, and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that he’s using diplomacy to play for time while he carries on beating down the Ukrainians will to win.

And at the moment, no one is stopping him

Ukraine is hitting back, particularly at Russia‘s oil installations, more of them going up in thick black smoke, after being hit by long-range Ukrainian drones.

It is taking a heavy toll on Putin’s ‘Achilles heel’, but on its own, analysts don’t expect it will be enough to persuade him to end this war.

The West can wring its hands in condemnation.

But it’s divided between Europe that wants a ceasefire and much more severe sanctions, and President Trump, who, it seems, does not – strangely always willing to sympathise with the Russians more than Ukraine.

He’s back to blaming Ukraine for starting the war, saying earlier in the week that Kyiv should not have got into a war it had no chance of winning.

It is a grotesque perversion of history. Ukraine, of course, had no choice but to fight to defend itself when it was invaded in an act of unprovoked aggression.

Every time the US president has condemned Russia for these kinds of attacks, he has never followed through and done nothing to punish them.

More worryingly for the Ukrainians, the Russians are getting the upper hand in the drones war, taking Iranian technology and souping it up into faster-moving drones that the Ukrainians are having increasing difficulty bringing down.

They expect as many as a thousand drones a night coming their way by the winter, and many, many more innocents to die.

Next week, Putin will join Chinese and North Korean leaders in a summit in Beijing, both supporting his war in Ukraine.

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Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

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A war that began as one man’s mad idea has, in three and a half years, metastasised into a titanic struggle between east and west, fought increasingly with machines in a dystopian evolution of war.

If President Trump is not prepared to use his power to bring this war to an end, what will another three and a half years of his presidency bring?

It is a chilling question.