Annunciation student given Citizen Honor Award for protecting friend during mass shooting

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Photo shows Annunciation Church and School mass shooting survivor Victor Greenawalt. (Supplied)

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is recognizing Annunciation student Victor Greenawalt for demonstrating "extraordinary bravery beyond his years" when he protected his friend and classmate Weston Halsne from gunfire during the Annunciation Church and School mass shooting. 

READ MORE: Minnesota urged to adopt stronger school threat alerts post-Annunciation shooting

Citizen Honor Award presented to Annunciation student Victor Greenawalt

Annunciation shooting: Student recalls tragedy

A student of Annunciation Church and School in Minneapolis recalls an attack that left at least two students dead, and more than a dozen injured - detailing how his friend was shot in the back during the super scary attack Wednesday morning.

What they're saying:

Greenawalt is being presented with the 2026 Young Hero Honoree Award, which is one of only six Citizen Honor Awards presented to six people a year.

The Congressional Honor Society shared the following statement:

"During a school shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN on August 27, 2025, Victor Greenawalt demonstrated extraordinary bravery far beyond his years. Instinctively, Victor protected a classmate with his own body, directly saving their life during the attack. His courage and selflessness became a powerful symbol of hope and humanity for a community in crisis."

The organization comprises 64 living Medal of Honor recipients. 

The Citizen Honors Awards event will follow a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Annunciation Church and School mass shooting

The backstory:

At 8:27 a.m. on Aug. 27, the first 911 calls came in, and several law enforcement agencies responded to a report of a shooting at the Annunciation Church and Catholic School in south Minneapolis. 

READ MORE: Annunciation mass shooting: Boy from viral interview has bullet fragment removed from neck

A shooter dressed in black approached the outside of the church and opened fire through the stained-glass windows toward children sitting in the pews during mass on their first week back at school. 

The shooter was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, and shot off more than 100 rounds. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said police recovered three shotgun shells and 116 rifle rounds, as well as one live round that was recovered from a handgun that appears to have malfunctioned. Authorities do not believe the shooter ever entered the church before the shooter died by suicide in the parking lot.