Minneapolis Community Reels from Attack at Children's Mass

Thu Oct 23 2025 03:43:47 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A tragic shooting at a Minneapolis church during a children's Mass resulted in two fatalities and numerous injuries, shaking the local community as survivors describe harrowing experiences.

In a shocking incident in Minneapolis, a gunman opened fire at a church during a children’s Mass, resulting in two deaths and injuring 17 others. The FBI is investigating the attack as a possible hate crime. Survivors recount the terror they faced, with one boy's friend sacrificing himself to protect him. The community mourns and questions the reoccurrence of such violence in schools and places of worship.

Witnesses to a mass shooting in the US city of Minneapolis have described the terrifying scenes after an attacker opened fire on a church in which children were celebrating Mass on Wednesday morning.

One young boy described being protected by a friend who got hit himself.

Two children were killed and 17 others injured in an incident that the FBI is treating as an anti-Catholic hate crime.

The attacker, named as 23-year-old Robin Westman, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities have not yet given a suspected motive.

Westman was a former pupil of the school that is adjacent to the church, CNN reported. The attacker's mother previously worked at the establishment, according to a school newsletter from 2016.

The young survivor, 10-year-old Weston Halsne, explained to CBS affiliate station WCCO that his friend saved him from bullets by lying on top of him.

I was like two seats away from the stained glass window, he said. My friend, Victor, saved me though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit.

He continued: My friend got hit in the back, he went to the hospital... I was super scared for him but I think now he's okay.

Weston said he and his classmates were well-drilled in what to do in a shooting situation - but not in the environment in which they found themselves. We practise it every month, but not in church, only in the school, he said.

The suspect Westman is believed to have approached the side of the Annunciation Church, which also houses a school, and fired dozens of shots through the windows using three firearms. Police also found a smoke bomb at the scene.

Officials are investigating whether the shots were fired from inside the building or outside it, noting that no casings from bullets were found inside.

Witnesses including local residents described their confusion when they heard the shots ring out. One man, Mike Garrity, believed it was the sound of a nail gun at a nearby construction site. Bill Bienemann noted, there's no way that could be gunfire because there's so much of it.

Many residents were left horrified as children emerged from the church covered in blood. One neighbour spoke of how she saw three children fleeing, with one girl asking for help.

Hundreds of people attended a vigil for the victims on Wednesday evening at another nearby school. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other officials expressed their condolences, recognizing the tragedy of repeated school shootings across the country.

Westman's name was legally changed from Robert to Robin in 2020, Minnesota court records show. A manifesto was also found, indicating that the attack was premeditated.