When Pat Scallen heard gunshots across the nook from his Minneapolis dwelling, “I did not know precisely what it was at first, however after concerning the tenth shot, I knew one thing was mistaken,” he recalled.
Scallen raced to the Annunciation Catholic College, the place he stated he noticed {a magazine} on the bottom by the church.
“It was eerily quiet. After which I instantly turned and ran to the entrance of the church, and proper at the moment everybody was popping out. And it was chaotic,” Scallen advised “Good Morning America” on Thursday.
Legislation enforcement officers arrange obstacles after a taking pictures at Annunciation Church, which can also be dwelling to a an elementary faculty, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer/Reuters
Streaming from the church had been youngsters struggling emotional and bodily wounds, he stated, including that he noticed a boy and a woman who had been shot within the head in addition to a woman shot within the neck.
“They had been very frightened. They wished their mother and pop,” he stated. “And I simply, I sat them down and simply tried to maintain them calm, and I used to be watching them near see if there’d be any change of their standing.”
Scallen stated the lady shot within the head requested him, “Please simply maintain my hand.”
“I did,” he stated.
An 8-year-old and 10-year-old who had been sitting in pews had been killed and 17 others were injured in the Wednesday morning mass shooting, police stated. The shooter opened hearth via a church window throughout a Mass that marked the primary week of faculty.
An officer with the Hennepin County Sheriff appears to be like on exterior a taking pictures at Annunciation Church, which can also be dwelling to an elementary faculty, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 27, 2025.
Ben Brewer/Reuters
Fourteen of the injured victims had been children ages 6 to 15, and the three adults who had been shot had been parishioners of their 80s, police stated. All of these injured are anticipated to outlive, police stated.
The shooter, recognized by the FBI as 23-year-old Robin Westman, died on the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police stated. A motive stays beneath investigation.
Scallen stated the Annunciation Catholic College is “one of many premiere faculties within the metropolis and state” and is “integral to the neighborhood.”
“There is a spirit right here, and I do know they’re going to be grieving for awhile, however this place, they’re going to come again,” he stated.
