A 13-year-old survivor of the mass shooting that took place in Minnesota yesterday (27 August) has said that her classmates thought gunshots 'were fireworks' as the attacker opened fire.
The horrifying attack saw a suspected shooter open fire with a rifle through the windows of a Catholic church and hit some of the nearly 200 children celebrating Mass during the first week of school.
The attacker was later identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who killed two children aged eight and 10 years old and wounded 17 additional people in an act of violence the police chief called 'absolutely incomprehensible'.
Westman, who was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, approached the side of the church at the Annunciation Catholic School just before 8.30am local time before firing the shots.
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Federal officials have referred to Westman as transgender, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decreeing against any hatred being directed at 'our transgender community' in the wake of the shooting.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference that Westman then died by suicide.
Speaking to local channel KSTP about what happened that fateful morning, fifth-grade student Clarrisa Garcia recalled: "I heard something really loud. I thought it was fireworks in the church.
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"And then I saw the shooting. And then I was like, 'Oh my gosh. I’m so scared.'"
Meanwhile, eighth-grader Javen Willis shared that he and his fellow classmates had a similar reactions thinking that the loud sounds and shattered glass were celebratory.
"Right when I heard the shots, I knew something was off," Willis, 13, shared on the Today show today (28 August). "A lot of my classmates thought it was confetti and fireworks, but I didn’t think they’d have that during the middle of the church service."
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According to the student, he jumped into action and helped shield his peers amid the attack.
"Honestly, at that point, I was just like, 'I want to keep everybody as safe as possible.' So I told me and my two buddies to get down and to get under the pew," he said. "Right when I told them that, it was like a state of shock for me.
"And I knew I had to keep as many people around me as I could safe."
Willis continued: "Right when it happened, I dropped down under the pew like I said, and I prayed. I said my few prayers.
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"And I realised I can’t just sit here and focus on myself, knowing that with God on my side, I will be fine. Just try to help out my fellow classmates, keep them calm and safe and let them know that they will be okay."
His mother, Melissa, joined Willis for the interview and called the whole ordeal 'terrifying'.
"You just never think that this was going to be your reality," she said, as her son wrapped his arm around her, comforting her. "I just cried. I just thanked God and cried and held him.
"Thankfully, I was one of the ones who did get to see my kid when I got there."
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NBC affiliate KARE 11, reports that Westman's mother was an employee at the school on the south side of Minneapolis up until she retired in 2021.
It's also believed that they attended the school for at least one year and had been there in the last week while teachers prepared for the upcoming school year, the news outlet adds.
Rhiannon Ingle