A 23-year-old gunman opened fire with multiple weapons on children and parishioners attending morning Mass at Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday, killing two children and wounding 17 others before taking his own life, authorities said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter, identified as Robin Westman, approached the side of the church around 8:30 a.m. and fired dozens of rounds through windows at children sitting in pews. The two victims killed were 8 and 10 years old. Fourteen other children and three elderly parishioners, ages 80 and above, were injured but are expected to survive.
“This was an absolutely incomprehensible act of cruelty and cowardice — firing into a church full of children,” O’Hara told reporters.
Children and Families Describe Chaos
Students described a frantic scramble for safety as bullets tore through the sanctuary.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne, 10, said he ducked under a pew as a friend shielded him. “I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s okay,” he said.
Parents said their children ran to classrooms or hid behind barricaded doors. One father said his daughter believed she was “going