Shooting at Minneapolis school stuns nation

As they prepared for the fall semester, leaders at Annunciation Catholic School in South Minneapolis settled on a theme for the year from Jeremiah 29: "A future filled with hope."

• But just three days into the school year, a spray of bullets through a stained glass window thrust them into every educator's — and parent's — worst nightmare.

What happened: Two young students were killed and another 14 children and three adults were hurt yesterday when a shooter opened fire during a morning Mass meant to mark the start of school.

• The slain children, ages 8 and 10, were sitting in the pews.

"There's nothing about today that can fill us with hope," principal Matthew DeBoer said.

The big picture: The attack was one of the worst acts of gun violence targeting a Minnesota school in decades.

• The shooting shocked the nation and the world, with Pope Leo XIV issuing a statement via a spokesperson sending "his heartfelt condolences" to the Twin Cities.

What they're saying: "This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said at a press conference yesterday morning. "The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible."

• The shooter, identified by authorities as 23-year-old Robin Westman, approached Annunciation Catholic just before 8:30am and shot through the side windows of the church.

Zoom in: The injured students ranged from ages 6 to 15, and the three adults were in their 80s. All are expected to survive, O'Hara said.

Amid the heartbreak, there were stories of heroism. Weston Halsne, a fifth grader at the school, described to WCCO diving under the pews as bullets flew through the windows just feet away.

• He said a friend, who was injured by the gunfire, saved him by laying on top of him.

Parents and law enforcement credited school leaders for saving more lives by locking doors and moving children to safety.

The bottom line: "We as a community have a responsibility to make sure that no child, no parent, no teacher, ever has to experience what we've experienced today ever again," DeBoer pleaded in an afternoon news conference.

• "We can't change the past, but we can do something about the future."