Weston Halsne was sitting next to the windows of the Church of Annunciation when a volley of bullets suddenly shattered the stained-glass panes.
As gunfire continued to tear through the Minneapolis church, the ten-year-old ran and hid under one of the wooden pews facing the altar and covered his head.
As he cowered in terror away from the gunfire, his friend Victor lay across him. He credits him with saving his life.
“He laid on top of me, but he got hit,” he said. “He was really brave”.
Moments before gunfire sprayed the hall, Annunciation Catholic School pupils had been filing into the church, filled with the excitement of the first morning Mass of the school year.
Monday had been the first day back at Annunciation, a 102-year-old school in a leafy neighbourhood about 5 miles south of downtown Minneapolis.
But as the children took their seats, just before 8.30am (2.30pm UK) on Wednesday, transgender shooter Robin Westman was stalking the building outside.
Dressed in black and camouflage and armed with a rifle, pistol and shotgun, Westman barricaded church doors with wooden planks before firing his rifle at the children through the side of the building, their heads bent in prayer.
Staff shield terrified pupils under pews
Within seconds of the first bullets piercing the glass, staff desperately tried to move the pupils under the pews in an effort to shield them from the onslaught.
Two children, aged eight and ten, were struck and killed by the torrent of gunfire.
Another 14 children aged six to 15 were injured, two critically. Three parishioners in their eighties were also hurt, although all the injured victims were expected to survive.
Robin Westman fired on the children from outside before killing himself
Among those rushed to hospital, where medics frantically moved patients out of rooms to make way for the victims, was Victor, who Weston says he thinks is “okay”.
While officers had still not confirmed the number of bullets fired during Westman’s rampage, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the number of rounds was “in the dozens”.
“The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” Mr O’Hara said.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. “These kids were literally praying.”
Terrified families reunited with loved ones – REUTERS
Ellie Mertens, a youth pastor at Annunciation Catholic School, had also been sitting in a pew next to a window when Westman opened fire.
“It was an automatic gun and I was near kids and we all got down,” Ms Mertens told NBC News.
One parent who was inside the church during the attack said a police officer tried to run after the gunman as bullets were being fired.
Shea McAdaragh told CNN the officer came into the church during the shooting and then ran off to try and find the shooter.
“He was just a normal, every day beat cop. No special equipment, no special helmet or anything and he just immediately ran toward the direction of the shooter,” Mr McAdaragh said.
Westman scrawled ‘Jew gas’ on smoke bomb
After carrying out his twisted attack, Westman shot himself dead in the car park, according to the Minneapolis police chief.
Officers found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene. Fox News reported the device was scrawled with the words “Jew gas”.
Before going on his killing spree, Westman had posted a series of YouTube videos showcasing his manifesto and large arsenal of weapons.
Westman posted a video showing off his arsenal of weapons, some featuring scrawled messages
Westman’s mother Mary is believed to be a retired employee of the school.
In one video, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, along with a pistol, shotgun, and a semi-automatic rifle, which were later used to carry out the massacre, were strewn over Westman’s bed.
A notebook shown in one of the clips, which have now been removed, included a drawing that appears to be a map of the Annunciation Catholic Church.
One clip appeared to show a drawing of the inside of the church
Westman’s video shows a note alongside rounds of ammunition
As the shooting unfolded, dozens of officers descended on the church to provide first aid and rescue children who had been hiding throughout the building.
Many of the first responders were “deeply traumatised by what they saw”, Mr O’Hara said.
Children search for news of their friends
Hours later, terrified parents stood outside the reunification area, waiting for information about their children.
Amid a crowd of heavy law enforcement later that morning, children in dark green uniforms trickled out of the school.
Tearful students from neighbouring high schools that had been on lockdown began arriving in search of news about their friends and siblings who had been inside the church.
Those who were reunited with their loved ones embraced their children before rushing them away from the scene.
Others were not so lucky.
Dozens of police officers rushed to the scene – AP
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota’s senator, said one of her staff members’ children had to tell her friend’s father his daughter had been struck.
“These kids are doing an all-school Mass and had to watch several of her friends get shot — one in the back, one in the neck,” Ms Klobuchar told MSNBC.
“And they all got down under the pews and she, her daughter, of course, was not shot, but her daughter ended up being the one to tell one of the dads of one of the other kids that his daughter had been shot.”
Lisa Elm, a resident in the area for more than 20 years, told The Telegraph the area is a “quiet, sweet community”.
“It’s a neighbourhood where people come together”, she said.
‘I don’t know where God is’
Outside Westman’s home, a quiet apartment complex just a 20-minute walk from the school, neighbours described being shocked a killer had been living next door.
The attack has devastated the neighbourhood’s Catholic community – AP
Aicha Kallo, a mother who lives in a neighbouring building to Westman, told The Telegraph: “It’s just so scary, you know, to have a shooter next door to you, and you have a kid. And those innocent children, they don’t deserve to die like that”, she said.
She added: “Living in a neighbourhood you think you’re safe and the next thing you have something like this. My heart goes out to the parents and those innocent kids.”
As the community continued to grapple with the tragedy, Weston’s grandfather, Michael Simpson, said the violence left him questioning why God had not been watching over the dozens of children.
“I don’t know where He is,” Mr Simpson said.
