Washington DC - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his department is looking into whether antidepressants play a role in violent incidents following Wednesday's shooting at a Minnesota Catholic school.

On Wednesday morning, a 23-year-old opened fire at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 others.

During an interview with Fox News on Thursday, RFK Jr. was asked if he would examine any of the drugs the shooter – who was transitioning – was using in order to determine if they played a role in the attack.

"We are doing those kinds of studies now at [the National Institutes of Health]... launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence," Kennedy responded.

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He went on to note that many SSRI drugs include warnings that users could experience suicidal and homicidal ideations, which he says his department "can't exclude those as a culprit."

These drugs are not usually employed to treat gender dysphoria, and Minnesota Senator Tina Smith blasted RFK Jr.'s remarks.

"I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don't kill kids, antidepressants do," she wrote on X. "Just shut up. Stop peddling bull****. You should be fired."

President Donald Trump has aggressively targeted the trans community in his second term, passing executive orders and legislation that seeks to ban trans women from sports and trans individuals from receiving medical care.

In February, HHS shared a news release announcing their support for Trump's efforts, with Kennedy arguing the president's administration is "bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government."

Throughout his brief tenure as head of HHS, Kennedy, a well-known anti-vaccine advocate with no medical education or experience, has been heavily criticized for pushing dangerous medical misinformation.