Minneapolis Catholic school shooting survivor describes how friend saved his life: "I'm praying for you"
Weston Halsne, 10, was sitting feet away from the stained glass windows at Annunciation Catholic Church when a shooter opened fire Wednesday morning.
Two children died and 17 others were injured — 14 of whom were also children — in the mass shooting at the south Minneapolis church attached to Annunciation Catholic School, which enrolls children in pre-K through eighth grade. The Catholic Mass marked the beginning of the school year.
"It was like, shots fired and then we kind of like got under pews. They shot through the stained glass windows, I think, and it was really scary," Halsne said.
The fifth grader was sitting two seats away from the windows, he told WCCO. He said he felt what he thought was gunpowder on his neck.
"My friend Victor like, saved me though. Because he laid on top of me. But he got hit," Halsne said. "I was super scared for him. But I think now he's OK."
"I hope you're OK and I'm praying for you," he said in a message to his friend.
Halsne said that after they all heard gunshots, they waited five to 10 minutes before heading to the gym.
"And then the doors locked just to make sure he couldn't come. And we waited in the gym for more news," he said.
He described how he'd done active shooter drills at school, but never at the church. When he got out of the church, he said his mother was waiting for him.
"I was super happy, because like, I was scared that I wasn't going to see her. Because I didn't know what was happening really, I was just in shock," he said.
The shooting triggered a massive law enforcement response to West 54th Street between Harriet and Garfield avenues. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the shooter approached from the outside of the building and fired a rifle through the windows towards the children and worshippers.
"Inexplainable and it happens way too much. And when it happens to your own children, then you're going to think very differently about this," said Michael Simpson, Halsne's grandfather. "There's only one way to think about it. There's nothing this precious little boy ever did to deserve this."
Law enforcement sources tell CBS News the shooter was 23-year-old Robin Westman, who lived in nearby Richfield. Westman died later of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the back of the church.
Reaction is also pouring in from local, state and federal leaders after the shooting.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda, head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, announced on Wednesday afternoon he received a telegram from Pope Leo XIX which read in part, "At this extremely difficult time, the Holy Father imparts to the Annunciation Catholic School Community, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the people of the greater Twin Cities metropolitan area his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace, fortitude and consolation in the Lord Jesus."