MINNEAPOLIS — A barrage of gunfire broke up the quiet morning of the third day of school at Annunciation Catholic School. The town was in mourning, and witnesses had to live with the memories of what happened. A 23-year-old woman named Robin Westman shot at the church, killing two kids, aged 8 and 10, before killing herself.
People who saw the attack said it was horrifying. Brian, who was having breakfast with his daughter nearby, thought the gunshots were construction noise at first. “But the gunfire came too quickly, then there was a short lull, and then another swift burst. “It didn’t sound like hammers and nails at all,” he told media, realizing his error as it was happening.
People who went to church also told their stories about the trauma. Clarissa Garcia, who was in fifth grade, assumed the loud bangs were fireworks until she observed the shooting and was terrified. Weston Halsne, who is ten years old and was seated near the windows where the rounds were fired, almost got hurt. “I think I even got some gunpowder on my neck,” he told Fox News.
Halsne also talked of a day when he was exceedingly brave, when his friend Victor protected him from the gunshots. “My pal helped me get out. He saw the person who shot him; they were wearing all black and a ski mask. I was down, so I didn’t really glance up. The shooter shot through the stained glass windows, and then my friend Victor lay on top of me to protect me. He also got hit. Weston said, “That was really brave of him.”
Brian O’Hara, the police chief of Minneapolis, said that Westman, who had lawfully bought the guns, fired dozens of shots from outside the church after blocking off at least two doorways. “This was a planned act of violence against innocent children and other people who were praying. O’Hara remarked, “It is completely incomprehensible how cruel and cowardly it is to fire into a church full of children.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey talked about a different problem that has come up since the massacre. He said that information regarding the shooter’s gender identification should not be used to “villainize our trans community.” He said, “Anyone who is using this as a chance to make our trans community or any other community look bad has lost their sense of common humanity.”
The FBI is looking into the shooting as both a hate crime and an act of terrorism at home.