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‘One in neck, one in stomach’: Minnesota senator says student saw her friends getting shot at Minneapolis school
The shooting at the Annunciation Catholic school left at least two children dead and 17 others injured. Officials said that of the injured, 14 are children.
Minnesota school shooting: As two children and 17 others were injured in a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said the daughter of one of her former staff members watched her friends get shot “in the neck, in the stomach”.
At least two children, aged 8 and 10, and the shooter died in the shooting that took place at the school in the Annunciation Church, 509 W. 54th St.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara told reporters that the shooter, in his 20s, fired at the children sitting in pews at the Mass through the church windows.
‘One in the neck, one in the stomach’
Speaking to CNN, Minnesota Senator Klobuchar said that her former employee's daughter "literally watched her friends, some of her best friends, be shot, one in the neck, one in the stomach".
She added that the girl had to then tell her friend's father about what had happened at the Mass.
The school, which provides pre-kindergarten to grade 8 classes, was described as a "beloved school" in the neighbourhood by the Senator.
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“I think this image of this gunman shooting through these windows, picking off these kids while they’re praying, is something that is going to be with people for a long time,” Klobuchar was quoted as saying by CNN.
Dr Thomas Wyatt, chair of emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare, said that nine children and two adults were brought to the facility. Of these, seven children were in critical condition and four of these "required the operation room".
He told reporters that the pediatric patients were in the age range of 6 to 14.
‘They were literally praying’: Mayor
Earlier, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey expressed deep anguish over the incident and said that "children are dead".
"You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of this moment," he added. Frey said that the kids were "literally praying" as it was the first week of school and they were in the church.
Police chief O'Hara also said that the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the parking lot, adding that his identity is yet to be ascertained.
He added that investigators are probing the possible motive behind the shooting.
