“The first action by those middle schoolers was to push their buddies down under the pew. That’s why the middle schoolers were the ones standing the longest and were largely the ones injured, acting in heroism… and then covering the little ones under the pews,” Michael Burt told NPR.
Burt, a parent of five children at Annunciation Catholic School, said his kids were friends with the two students fatally shot: 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski.
One kid’s heroic move
“I can tell you that all the kids at the school are kids to all of us,” Burt said. “They are amazing human beings, amazing people in our community. And their kids will be mourned by all of us.”
Multiple media reports have highlighted that many students at Annunciation Catholic School showed remarkable courage, going to great lengths to protect one another during the attack.
“We had one kid that covered up another kid and took a shotgun blast to his back,” Marty Scheerer, chief of Hennepin Emergency Medical Services, said Thursday.
Scheerer also highlighted that the children had undergone active shooter training and praised the “unrecognized heroes” of the incident. “Children protecting other children often laid on the floor and covered each other up while teachers ushered kids to safety. That was key,” he added.
Everyone was getting shot at
Matthew DeBoer, principal of Annunciation Catholic School, echoed the praise for both students and staff, noting that adults quickly guided children under the pews “within seconds” of the shooting.
“Adults were protecting children, older children were protecting younger children,” he said. “It could have been significantly worse without their heroic actions.”
Scheerer added, “The teachers were amazing. The teachers were getting shot at. They were protecting the kids.”
Even in hospitals, acts of heroism continued. One young student injured in the shooting became visibly distressed during a CT scan. Without hesitation, a nurse not assigned to the mass casualty response stayed with her throughout the procedure, despite radiation safety protocols, according to KSTP.
“She put a little lead on, stayed there and held her hand and held her hair while she went through scanners so she didn’t have to go through alone,” said Dr. Jon Gayken, head trauma surgeon at Hennepin County Medical Center.
Countless lessons of bravery
Authorities confirmed that the rapid, heroic response prevented far more casualties than anyone feared. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara observed, “There’s going to be countless lessons of bravery, from young children all the way up to elders.”
O’Hara also shared that the first officer arrived at the church “without hesitation” just minutes after the 911 call. Parishioners told O’Hara that it was the first moment the children and others felt they might actually be safe.
When officers entered the church, they observed children covered in blood—not from their own injuries, but from the blood of other kids, O’Hara explained at a later news conference. Officials also noted that several medical first responders, many stationed only blocks from the church, have children who attend Annunciation Catholic School.
The suspect shot himself
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that the suspect, Robin Westman, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities report that Westman owned three legally purchased firearms: a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol. More than 100 rifle rounds were recovered at the scene, O’Hara confirmed.
While no clear motive has yet been determined, the suspect is believed to have posted a manifesto on Facebook shortly before the attack.
