A 10-year-old student says his friend shielded him from bullets inside a Minneapolis church when a shooter opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Police confirmed two casualties: an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old child. Both were killed by the gunman, who opened fire through the church windows and struck the victims sitting in the pews.
Fifth-grade student Weston Halsne said he was “two seats away from the stained glass windows” when the shooting began.
“It was like, shots fired, and then we kind of got under pews. They shot through the stained glass windows, I think, and it was really scary,” Halsne told CBS affiliate WCCO.
Halsne said he felt what he believed to be gunpowder on his neck.
“My friend Victor, like, saved me, though. Because he laid on top of me. But he got hit,” Halsne told NBC affiliate KARE.
Story continues below advertisement
Halsne said the students practice active shooter lockdown procedures every month at school but have “never practiced it in the church.”
When asked if he wanted to say anything to his friend Victor, Halsne called him “really brave” and said he hopes “he’s good in the hospital.”
“I hope you’re OK and I’m praying for you,” Halsne added.
2:27
Minneapolis demands gun control after deadly school shooting
Previous Video
Next Video
The shooter who killed two Catholic school students and wounded more than a dozen children, ages six to 15, sitting in the pews of the Minneapolis church once attended the same school and had been a member of the church, the city’s police chief said.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Three parishioners in their 80s were also injured and one child was in critical condition Thursday, while 11 other victims remained in hospital.
Story continues below advertisement
Authorities have been investigating videos, writings and the movements of the shooter but remained uncertain what motivated 23-year-old Robin Westman to open fire as children celebrated mass on the first week of classes at the Annunciation Catholic School.
“Everything we’ve seen so far is a classic pathway to an active shooter,” Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara said on Today Thursday, adding that police have seen nothing “specific to trigger the amount of hate that occurred yesterday.”
He added that investigators have recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences. They are also seeking warrants to search devices.
Trending Now
Airspace closed, businesses evacuated after explosive chemical found in Calgary
Duty-free shipping to U.S. ends Friday. Canadian businesses are ‘fearful’
O’Hara said Westman, whose mother worked for the parish before retiring in 2021, took their “own life in the rear of the church.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sent state law enforcement officers to schools and churches in Minneapolis on Thursday, saying no child should go to school worried about losing a classmate or gunshots erupting during prayer.
2:05
Police identify gunman in Minneapolis Catholic school shooting
Previous Video
Next Video
Story continues below advertisement
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told Good Morning America that the city is “united in grief” and “united in action” on Thursday.
“People who say that this is not about guns, you got to be kidding me. This is about guns. We do need to take action,” Frey said. “There are other countries around the world where horrific acts have taken place like this and then they step up to make a change so that it, in fact, does not happen again.”
Frey said every parent should have the assurance that their child is going to arrive home safely from school.
“Tragically that did not happen for these parents right now,” he said of the two children who were killed. “We all have different titles in life, professional and otherwise. But I’ll tell you the titles that matter most to me: it’s husband and it’s dad.”
— With files from The Associated Press
More on World
More videos
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.