An eight-year-old boy killed in the US Catholic school shooting has been named - as his father branded the attacker a "coward".

Fletcher Merkel was one of two children 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.

In a statement reported by Sky's US partner network NBC News, Fletcher's father Jessie 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 add

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