A 10-year-old student, Weston Halsne, has detailed his friend shielding him during the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting in a heartbreaking interview. A suspect opened fire on August 27, 2025, at Annunciation Catholic School as students attended their first Mass of the new school year, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara shared during a news conference. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed during the attack, which occurred about 8 a.m., as bullets came through a stained-glass window. Meanwhile, 17 others — including 14 children — were wounded.
“It was like ‘Shots fired,’ and then we kind of, like, got under the pews,” Halsne, a fifth-grade student, told CBS News. “And it was really scary. We waited, like, 10 to 5 minutes, I don’t really know. And then we went to the gym, and then the doors locked just to makes sure he didn’t come. We waited in the gym for more news.”
The 10-year-old added, “My friend got hit in the back … I was super scared for him. But I think now he’s OK.”
During an interview with NBC affiliate KARE, Halsne detailed how his friend shielded him from the gunfire.
“I think I got, like, gunpowder on my neck,” he detailed of how close he was to the shooting. “I was like two seats away from the stained-glass windows.”
Halsne continued, “My friend Victor, like, saved me, though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit,” he shared, calling the fellow fifth-grader “brave.” He added, “I hope he’s good in the hospital.”
The shooting suspect, Robin Westman, 23, appeared to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police believe. They had “no prior criminal history,” O’Hara noted, and used three weapons — a rifle, shotgun, and a pistol — to carry out the mass shooting. An investigation is ongoing.
Westman’s mother was reportedly an employee at Annunciation Catholic School but retired in 2021, KARE 11 reported.
