Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 2 September 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters. 

Religious schools like Annunciation face particular security challenges in the age of school shootings

On the morning of August 27^th, during an all-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, a gunman armed with multiple legally purchased weapons opened fire through the church’s stained-glass windows, killing two children and injuring 21 others. This highlights the unique security challenges of religious schools, which must balance child protection with the openness central to worship. It is noted that schools and houses of worship are among the “softest targets”, making them especially vulnerable. While public schools often have standardized district-level security measures, private religious schools frequently operate independently and may treat security as secondary. Some institutions have turned to technology, such as panic alarms, surveillance, and “greeter guards”, to maintain safety without sacrificing a welcoming environment. At Annunciation, security protocols included locked campus doors, lockdown drills, and locking church doors once Mass began, which police believed prevented further casualties. 

Analyst Comments: The Annunciation shooting shows the persistent vulnerability of “soft targets” like schools and houses of worship. Security experts often stress layered defenses, controlled access, surveillance, drills, and response coordination but religious schools face the added challenge of maintaining an environment of openness. While drills and locked doors recued the potential of scale of harm, this event highlights the need for tailored threat assessments, scenario-based training, and effective security technologies. HOW and religious schools should consider partnerships with community security organizations, law enforcement, and technology providers to create balanced, sustainable safety plans. Members should be on the lookout for this week’s Faith-based Security Advisory for additional analysis and resources related to recent school shootings.

Threat Intelligence Briefing: INCREASED CHANCE OF COPYCAT ATTACKS

The brief by Christian Warrior shows a heightened risk of copycat attacks following the Minneapolis Annunciation Church shooting, warning that lone actors remain the top threat to churches in the U.S. Key tactical observations from the Annunciation attack include the shooter selecting the target for its unarmed defenses, creating crude sketches of the church layout, timing the attack to coincide with school and Mass schedules, and firing through stained-glass windows after encountering locked doors. The online response has raised deep concern: thousands of posts across Reddit, Discord, and fringe platforms have praised the attack, glorified the shooter, marked related merchandise, and even incited further violence, raising the likelihood of copycat incidents.

Analyst Comments: It is recommended that HOWs prioritize perimeter security like parking lots, entrances, outdoor perimeters, to implement counter-surveillance training, and teach staff to spot pre-attack behaviors like mapping or photographing facilities. It also advises auditing and limiting publicly shared information, like detailed maps or schedules, and emphasizes that churches must prepare to respond immediately.

Why are there so many attacks on churches?

From 2018 to 2024, the Family Research Council (FRC) documented 1,384 hostile incidents targeting U.S. churches. In 2024 alone, there were 415 such incidents, marking a 730 percent increase since 2018. These attacks are not limited to any political or regional divide; the highest numbers occurred in populous states like California, New York, Florida, and Texas.

Denison points to personal grievances, desire for attention, or psychological breakdowns are more common motivators in mass shootings and similar hostile events. These attacks often follow a pattern: the offender harbors a grievance, plans, performs site reconnaissance, and then carriers out the act.

Analyst Comments: The sharp rise in hostile incidents against churches shows a trend in targeted violence, where attackers are often driven less by ideology and more by personal grievances, attention-seeking, or mental health crises. While ideological motives such as abortion or LGBTQ issues once accounted for a significant share of incidents, the data shows those categories declining. Prevention is complicated as such threats are harder to anticipate through traditional ideological or political monitoring. For security planners, churches remain “soft targets” due to their openness, regular gatherings, and symbolic values, making security approaches essential. FB-ISAO 2024 Threat Data will be available this fall.