The pain is still being measured in tears, hugs and unanswered questions. But a certainty echoes among all the testimonies: this morning, at Annunciation Catholic School, the childhood and faith were shot at close range. At least two children died and 17 people were injured
On the morning of Wednesday, the bells of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, United States, sounded as usual. The Mass joined dozens of children, from six to 14 years, with teachers and parents, to mark the beginning of the school year. A few minutes later, the school church became one.
A man armed with three different weapons approached the building and began to fire through the windows, directly at the children sitting on the banks of the church.
What followed was a choir of shouts, shouts, running and crying. And then the heavy silence. This is how neighbors, parents and students describe the shooting that left an entire community in shock, killing two children from 8 and 10 years old and leaving 17 injured.
“My friend saved me”
Weston Halsne, a fifth year student, was sitting in a few places on the windows when he heard the first shots.
“At first I thought, ‘What is this?’. Then I heard it again and ran under the bench, I covered my head. My friend Victor saved me because he lay on top of me, but was hit,” Weston told WCCO, an affiliate of CBS television station.
The two children were hidden under the seats for about ten minutes, until they were able to go out to the gym, where the doors were locked. “I was super scared by him, but I think it is well,” he continued, referring to his injured friend who was taken to the hospital.
“I couldn’t believe they were shots”
A mother hugs her son after the shooting in Minneapolis (Alex Kormann/AP)
Bill Bienemann lives a few blocks from the school. So quickly will not forget the sound that echoed indoors, confesses to the Associated Press.
“There were dozens of shots, perhaps fifty, over four minutes. At first I said to myself, ‘it can’t be, it’s not possible.’ But it was, they were real, so strong, so repeated.”
The daughter, Alexandra, studied at Annunciation from the nurset until the eighth year. When he learned of the attack, he could not contain: “I was shaking and crying nonstop.” The boss told him to go home. “To think that people I know may be injured or even dead leaves me sick.”
Children of uniform to cry in the arms of parents
At the school door, journalists witnessed the chaos of evacuation: children with dark green uniform to go out to tears. In the minute, the parents arrived in despair of the so -called “meeting point.”
Tight hugs, convulsive cries, trembling hands holding mobile phones. Michael Simpson has reached the foot of journalists to tremble. He had just discovered that ten -year -old grandson Weston had been hit by a bullet. He was sitting by the windows at the time of the attack.
“I don’t know where God is,” he repeats nonstop, in statements to the Associated Press.
Pat Scallen, a neighbor and former student of the school, ran to the place as soon as he realized where the shots came from.
“I saw three children leaving. Two were seriously injured, one in the neck, one with their arm hit. There was no police yet, no ambulances, so I was with them. I told them that they were not alone, that help came on their way. It was the least it could do,” CNN tells.
Aubrey Pannhoff, a young 16 -year -old student who was in religious missions with Annunciation children, did not contain the revolt in statements to the Associated Press.
“I just ask God why this are just children. It’s very difficult for me to realize.”
A Mass Mass Transformed into Massacre
Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, visibly shaken by what happened (Abbie Parr/AP)
Annunciation Catholic School was founded in 1923. In the last school year there were almost 400 students enrolled. This Wednesday, the 08:15 Mass symbolically marked the start of another school year.
It was at this moment that the shooter, Robin Westman, a 20 -year -old, approached, armed with a shotgun, shotgun and a pistol. He fired dozens of times against the interior of the church, reaching children, parents and teachers. Then he took his own life behind the building.
The Vatican has already commented. Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened” with the attacks and injured of the attack. He sent “condolences felt and the guarantee of spiritual proximity, especially to families who lost their children,” according to a statement signed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The police speak of deliberate act.
“It was a cruel and cowardly attack on innocent children. It’s incomprehensible to shoot a group of children to pray,” said local police chief Brian O’hara.
Abroad, the scenario was painted on ambulances, dozens of federal agents, journalists and unbelievers.
Among those who ran to school, there were those who came across the hardest news: the children were among the dead. Others, such as Zuheir Safe, grandfather of a injured child, only wanted to embrace the children.
“It’s very sad, this shouldn’t happen. People shouldn’t have weapons. When I came to my granddaughter I just want to give him a hug, that’s all,” he said in statements to CNN.
This massacre joins a growing list of attacks on schools and places of worship in the US. The FBI is investigating this case as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.
“It’s a wonderful school, a place of affection and community. Today has been stained with blood,” says Scallen, the neighbor who rescued children.
