Annunciation School shooting: Emergency audio reveals medical response, injuries

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Emergency dispatch audio reveals what happened when first responders were called to a Minneapolis school after police say a lone shooter opened fire on a crowd of people as they prayed inside the church.

Audio reveals scope of emergency response and range of injuries 

Timeline:

The first calls for medical teams were dispatched to the Annunciation Catholic School and Church in South Minneapolis around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"Minneapolis has a possible active shooter," one first responder said. 

Troopers arriving at the scene were advised of the need for immediate medical help.

"Bring all the gauze that you have," said another first responder.

Medical teams said that there were "two DOAs inside the church." 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that two young children – ages 8 and 10 – were killed as they sat in the pews of the church. Police say the shooter opened fire through a church window, firing off dozens of rounds. 

One dispatch call said, "We have… two patients with gunshot wounds to their heads in front. There’s also a critical patient in the rear of the church." 

Authorities say 18 victims were injured, most of them children. 

Child grazed by bullet in the head

First responder audio details one 10-year-old boy who was transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. 

"He is currently vitally stable," the first responder advised. "Possibly… was just grazed." 

Shooter had gunshot wound to head, according to emergency dispatch audio 

Within minutes of arriving on scene, emergency medical responders confirmed that the lone shooter was dead. 

"We have one suspect with a gunshot wound to the head – has a rifle and shotgun – he’s down right now."

Annunciation Catholic Church and School shooting: What we know

What we know:

Two children were killed and 18 other people were injured in a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. The suspect, who fired from outside through the church windows as children worshiped, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The FBI says it is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara says they haven't determined a motive, but the suspect did post a manifesto on YouTube, which has since been taken down.

An 8-year-old child and 10-year-old child were killed in the shooting. Three adults and 15 children, including a child as young as 6, are among those injured in the shooting. All the remaining victims are expected to survive, O'Hara said. 

READ MORE: Annunciation Church school shooting: What we know about the victims

The shooter has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman. FOX 9 has confirmed Westman’s mother previously worked at Annunciation but left the school in 2021, according to a Facebook post. The shooter’s mother also applied to change her child’s name from Robert to Robin in Dakota County in 2019, according to court documents obtained by FOX 9. According to the name change filing, Westman identified "as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification."

READ MORE: Annunciation church Minneapolis: What’s known about shooting suspect Robin Westman

Police said the suspect was dressed in black and armed with a rifle, pistol and shotgun when the suspect fired through the church's windows toward children sitting in the pews during their first week back at school. The suspect did not have an extensive criminal history and is believed to have acted alone. 

RELATED: Annunciation church and school shooting: What we know so far

The church and school are on the 500 block of West 54th Street in south Minneapolis, near the intersection of 54th and Lyndale. The school is for pre-kindergarten through eighth-graders, and in the 2023-24 school there were 391 students enrolled. Students started school on Monday, Aug. 25.