Witnesses describe Minneapolis Catholic school shooting

Witnesses described a mass shooting in the American city of Minneapolis, the “terrifying” scenes after the striker opened fire on a church that the children were celebrating the mass on Wednesday morning.

One boy described to be protected by a friend who struck himself.

Two children were killed and 17 others were injured in an accident that the FBI was treated as an anti -Catholic crime.

The attacker, named Robin Westman, died at the scene of the accident as a result of his wounds. The authorities have not yet given a suspect’s motive.

Westman was a student for a former school adjacent to the Church, CNN said. The mother of the striker previously worked at the Foundation, according to a 2016 newsletter.

The young survivor, Weston Halsen, 10 -year -old, explained to the WCCO station that his friend saved him from bullets by lying on him.

“I was like two seats away from the colored glass window,” he said. “My friend, Victor, saved me, because he placed above me, but he hit.”

He continued: “My friend was injured in the back, and he went to the hospital … I was very afraid for him, but I now think he’s okay.”

Weston said that he and his colleagues were well dug what to do in a shooting position – but not in the environment in which they found themselves. “We practice it every month, but not in the church, only in school,” he said.

The suspect is believed to be approached by the Church of the Annunciation, which also includes a school, and fired dozens of shots via windows using three firearms. The police also found a smoke bomb at the scene.

Officials investigate whether the shots were fired from inside or outside the building, noting that no bulletwings were found inside.

Local population described their confusion when they heard the shots come out. A man, Mike Garyti, told NBC News that he believed that he was the sound of a nail gun at a near construction site.

Bill Penman, who lives two blocks, spoke with correspondents near the scene of the accident and recalled the moment: “I said that there is no way that could be shooting because there are many of them.”

The other local resident, PJ Mudd, who was working from the house on Wednesday morning, told the Wall Street Journal he heard three scars. “I suddenly dwindled – it was a shooting.”

Mr. Mood ran to the church, where he saw three cartridges on the ground.

Witnesses, including Mr. Garyti, also described the terrifying scene of children who are emerging from the blood -covered church.

Another neighbor, Patrick Scallin, told the BBC that he had seen three children fleeing the building – one of them is a girl with head wounds.

“I said,” Please hold my hand, don’t leave me, “and I said I didn’t go anywhere.”

A nanny who works close to a place that she was relieved to see some children leaving the building without harm, but they were annoyed by “looks on their faces alone.”

“You see online videos, but she is not compared to her vision and watch them personally,” Madi Brandt told NBC. “It was rough … it’s terrifying.”

Hundreds of people attended the protest of the victims on Wednesday evening at another near school.

It is expected that those who were injured in the shooting, and some of them have already been released from the hospital.

One of CNN told her that she was uncomfortable with her children, but she had “such mixed feelings now.”

Carla Maldonado talked about being “incredibly sad and angry that this should be something in any school.” She continued, “The life that lost [are] too much. One is too much. decent “.

Minnesota governor Tim Walz gave similar feelings, saying that the situation is “very common – not only in Minnesota, but all over the country.”

Walzz said that US President Donald Trump and his team had expressed their “deep condolences” and offered help.

Trump later said that the American flag will be transferred in the seminar in the White House as a show of respect for the victims.

Pope Liu was the fourteenth, the first of the American Pope, among those who praised the young victims, saying he was “very sad” with the attack.

By submitting updates at a press conference on Wednesday, the police chief of Minyabolis Brian Ouhara said that the attacker has no “well -known criminal history”, and he behaved alone.

Police say they found a “statement” that Westman had touched him to post on YouTube at the time of the shooting. The FBI assisted and taken the officials.

The name Westman was legally changed from Robert to Robin in 2020, and Minnesota court records appear. In the application, the judge wrote: “The minor child is defined as a female and wants her name to reflect this definition.”