Witnesses to a mass shooting in the US city of Minneapolis have described the terrifying scenes after an attacker opened fire on a church in which children were celebrating Mass on Wednesday morning.
One young boy described being protected by a friend who got hit himself.
Two children were killed and 17 others injured in an incident that the FBI is treating as an anti-Catholic hate crime.
The attacker, named as 23-year-old Robin Westman, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities have not yet given a suspected motive.
Westman is believed to have approached the side of the Annunciation Church, which also houses a school, and fired dozens of shots through the windows using three firearms. Police also found a smoke bomb at the scene.
Officials are investigating whether the shots were fired from inside the building or outside it, noting that no casings from bullets were found inside.
Locals described their confusion when they heard the shots ring out. One man, Mike Garrity, told NBC News that he believed it was the sound of a nail gun at a nearby construction site.
Weston Halsne, a 10-year-old survivor, explained how his friend, Victor, saved him by lying on top of him during the attack. My friend got hit in the back, he went to the hospital... I was super scared for him but I think now he's okay, he said.
This horrific event has prompted widespread mourning and calls for improved school safety measures, with some local residents expressing disbelief that such violence could occur in a sacred space.
Hundreds of people attended a vigil for the victims on Wednesday evening at a nearby school. Local officials, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, expressed their condolences and highlighted the prevalence of gun violence in the country.
The community continues to process this tragedy as authorities seek to uncover the motives that led to this devastating act of violence.
