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Deadly Mass Shooting at Minneapolis School. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 27, 2025 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're following breaking news of a deadly mass shooting at a Catholic school and church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a gunman opening fire during the school's first all-school mass of the new school year that had just started on Monday, the killer apparently targeting the Annunciation Catholic School, where kids as young as pre-kindergartners all the way to eighth grade were inside the sanctuary praying.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This hour, we know that at least two children have died, 14 other kids were injured, two of them critically, along with three adults who were also injured in this. Patients as young as 6 years old are being treated at nearby hospitals.

Here was the police chief of Minneapolis just a short time ago:

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BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, POLICE CHIEF: The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible. Two young children ages 8 and 10 were killed where they sat in the pews.

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KEILAR: The chief then going on to share horrifying details here, the gunman armed with multiple guns three weapons firing dozens of rounds from outside of the building, aiming directly at the packed sanctuary through the windows.

The chief says that at least two doors of the school church were apparently blocked by something like two-by-fours. And after the rampage, the chief says the gunman then took his own life in the parking lot.

SANCHEZ: And we witnessed heart-wrenching scenes as parents rushed to the church and the school, many seen crying and hugging, gripping their children tightly.

We're now hearing from witnesses as well as they describe the harrowing events. The mayor also speaking out.

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JACOB FREY (D), MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: These were Minneapolis families. These were American families. And the amount of pain that they are suffering right now is extraordinary. And don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.

These are kids that should be learning with their friends. They should be playing on the playground. They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence. And their parents should have the same kind of assurance.

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KEILAR: We have CNN's Isabel Rosales and John Miller standing by.

And, I mean, Isabel, just to note as we were watching those updates happening, you saw numerous grown men there trying to hold back tears as they were talking about what had happened there today. What are you learning?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we have seen so many images of parents walking out of the school reunifying with their children, crying, holding up their hands through their mouths just in disbelief as to what they have seen and what they're going through, hugging their children a little tighter this first week of school for these children.

And what we heard there in that press conference were church bells ringing mournfully in the background, as we heard from the police department chief, Brian O'Hara, describing the fact that two children have indeed been killed ages 8 and 10 all that they were doing was sitting in these pews praying, again, their first week of school, 17 people injured, the vast majority of them children, two of these patients in critical condition.

The chief described that, as these children were sitting there in these pews praying, the gunman approached from outside and began firing his rifle through the windows toward the children sitting there praying. He struck worshipers, children, and police believe he used three different guns, a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun, and then took his own life.

And here was the scene that police found outside of the doors to that church. Listen.

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O'HARA: The shooter approached on one side of the church building. And on that side, at least two doors, it appears there had been like a two-by-four place, so not all of the doors around the building, but on the side where the shooter did fire, on the outside.

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ROSALES: And this matches the reporting of one of my colleagues, Arit John, who's on the ground there and spoke to a witness and a neighbor who heard -- quote -- "incredibly loud shots" as he was working from home.

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He ran over to the church to try to help, saw red smoke. The police chief said that there was some sort of a firework device releasing smoke, perhaps a smokescreen. They will have to figure that out. And then this neighbor saw bullets all along the path and saw that the church doors were barricaded and then saw kids coming out crying and screaming. Just terrible.

SANCHEZ: Isabel Rosales, please stand by.

John Miller, what more are you hearing from your sources about why this took place where it did?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, we're looking at what the chief told us, what Brian O'Hara said in the press conference, which is, we are looking at things left behind, that's a quote, to determine no motive.

He specifically mentioned a car that was in the parking lot. They're going to search that. They're also obtaining search warrants for where the shooter lived. But beyond just the premises of the car, of the residence, what they're going to be looking at is cell phones, computers, social media.

They will be getting preservation orders to make sure that that is retained by the carriers. They will be looking to get search warrants to go through those devices, to go through that social media. But they're also looking for what is typical in these cases, Boris, is that manifesto, that written document, that video.

And that is something that we will probably hear about in a relatively short time. But what you see is a process that they're going to go through, the search warrants. The ATF is on the scene. They will have that rifle, that pistol, that shotgun. They will determine where they were sold and who the purchaser was, and whether that was the shooter today or someone else, how those guns were obtained.

But at the same time, we're learning about not just the law enforcement process going forward, but going backwards, what was the shooter's process?

And as Isabel told us the idea that he came to the church, apparently aware that this event for children would be going on in the church, not the school next door, that they would be gathered in one place, that he would arrive around 8:30, about 15 minutes after the start of the event, when it would be fully populated, that he would apparently take two-by-fours and put them through the door handles of the exits on the side he opened fire on, basically keeping victims trapped inside until he was finished.

A smoke dispersal device, these are common among paintball shooters and people who play war games, in this case not a game, to obscure people's vision and to create confusion and distraction, the multiple weapons, what the chief described as dozens of shell casings, it gives us a picture that it appears communications were prepared regarding motive before the shooting, that an intricate plot was developed, that preoperational surveillance and study had occurred prior to this terrible event by the offender.

Which shows this has been something that has been in this person's mind and in the works for a long time with terrible, terrible intention, with two children dead, 8 and 10 years old, with others, according to Hennepin Medical Center, in critical condition, in operating rooms right now undergoing surgery.

This event is in every way probably as terrible as the shooter planned it to be, maybe worse.

KEILAR: John, thank you so much.

If you can stand by for us, we do want to bring in Donell Harvin. He's the former chief of homeland security in Washington, D.C. He's now a faculty member at Georgetown University's Emergency and Disaster Management program.

Donell, the shooter here obviously choosing a soft target, the most vulnerable victims. What is standing out to you and what questions do you have as you are learning what we are of this new information?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER D.C. CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE: Well, as John laid out, that's pretty typical. Soft targets are the target of choice for these lone actors.

What's interesting obviously is that this individual had done some preoperational surveillance. He knew the layout of the church, the facility, knew exactly what time he was going to do this and came prepared.

One thing that does stand out is that I always advocate when I come on the show after these shootings the red flag law. Minnesota actually initiated a red flag law in 2024. And so that's called the -- an extreme risk prevention order, which law enforcement or family members can use to report somebody that may be at risk of using weapons and perpetration of some type of violent crime.

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And so I'm be interested going forward if there was any leakage, what we call leakage. This individual may have told somebody they were going to do this online or in person, and to see how that was handled.

SANCHEZ: And, Donell, I wonder, as this investigation gets under way, if you could talk about processing a scene like this, when there are so many children involved. It's obviously a church and a school. It's going to be tough, I imagine, to try to interview these kids, as we watch video from this morning of what we presume is a student in anguish after witnessing what they did.

HARVIN: Yes, thanks for the question, Boris.

I will be very -- I will give an overview because I'm very conscious of the fact that victim family members and friends may be watching the show. As you know, I helped assist with the forensics at Sandy Hook. And some of the images that you're showing actually bring me back to that day almost 13 years ago.

We arrived, and you saw family members looking to be reunified with their children, but some children who didn't make it out of that crime scene. This is going to be a protracted incident in terms of forensics. Law enforcement will be partnered. You saw the ATF at the press conference right behind the mayor.

They will be tracking the weapon. They will be looking to see databases and where it was purchased, if it was legally purchased. As John mentioned, they will be looking for a manifesto. They will interrogate any electronic devices that the perpetrator may have had on their person, in their vehicle, or they will get a warrant to search their home or any affiliated locations.

But then the actual crime scene is going to be very difficult. It's going to be a very deliberate and slow process, unfortunately. And these family members may not get answers they need right away because forensics will need to be done.

KEILAR: And, Donell, I agree with you. These moments of reunification and the anguish of these kids, and then you think of the parents maybe who didn't reunify, which is the true, true, extreme anguish of these images.

I think -- we have seen these over and over again at these shootings. As you look back and now you see these various instances of this, I mean, how are you reflecting on this one?

HARVIN: That's a tough question, Brianna. I apologize.

KEILAR: That's OK. Take your time.

HARVIN: People don't drop their children off not to come back home.

They drop their children off and expect them to come home, have new friends, stories, homework. And so this keeps on happening over and over again. I keep on coming on these shows over and over again, and nothing really is changing.

So we will have to see if there were any lapses. It seems like, from my initial assessment, from John's great reporting and from some others, that a lot of the first response was right on point. But, unfortunately, we cannot make every school, every church a hardened target. And so we really need to look at some of the underlying conditions

that create these mass shootings. We are the mass shooting capital of the world. And that's mental health. That's easy, unfettered access to weapons, even for people with mental disabilities or people who shouldn't have them, violent tendencies.

And so that really is the really under -- the underbelly of this problem. And if we don't address that as a society, we're going to keep on coming on this show and reporting, unfortunately, frequently about scenes as we're seeing today.

KEILAR: Donell, thank you very much. I think you speak for a lot of people when you talk about that, if you could stand by for us.

We are joined now by Patrick Scallen. He lives near the site of the shooting. He actually ran to the site when he heard what had happened there. He was also a former student at Annunciation Catholic School.

Patrick, talk to us about what happened when you got to the church. This is an incredibly shocking scene for you to come upon.

PATRICK SCALLEN, LIVES NEAR SITE OF SHOOTING: Yes.

When I got there, the shots had stopped. They may have been still going on as I left, but it was eerily quiet when I when I got to the church. I noticed, on the side of the church, there was a magazine, an empty magazine. Well, I don't know if it was empty. There was a magazine on the sidewalk.

And I just looked at that. And then I went around to the front of the church, and I had a feeling that it was -- whatever happened was in the church. And then people were starting to pour out of the church. And right away almost, there were three children that were obviously hurt. And I just kind of stayed with them until the EMTs came and tried to give them some comfort, because they were obviously in a lot of distress, and two of them were very hurt.

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SANCHEZ: Yes, Patrick, could you share with us what you told them to try to calm them down?

SCALLEN: Well, yes.

The one -- one girl said: "Can you just please hold my hand?" And I did. And I think that helped her. And she had -- shot had grazed her forehead. And I think she's very fortunate, because if that -- I think, a little bit closer, and it would have been a different result.

But she was so brave. And there was another girl that -- right next to her that was shot in the neck. And she was -- I kept a pretty hard focus on her, because I -- in case she went into acute distress. She was having some problems breathing, but she was alert and talking.

And I just -- I kept telling them: "Your mom and dad -- I'm going to call your mom and dad. I'm going to let them know. You're going to be OK," just mainly reassurance.

And then the boy that was there was -- he just had his arm grazed, as far as I know. And he was so brave. And I think he was doing everything he could to help the situation and comfort those girls too.

It was a difficult situation. But I'm guardedly optimistic that those kids are going to be OK.

KEILAR: And they wanted you to get in touch with their mom and dad? What else were they asking you?

SCALLEN: Just mainly that, and, oh, why did this happen? How could this happen? And the one that was shot in the neck, I was mainly asking, in my own lay way, medical questions, to just -- because I was worried, given that she said she was shot in the neck.

And they were -- they weren't bleeding profusely, but they were obviously bleed -- all were bleeding. And I just -- it was just comfort and reassurance, again. No one -- I told them and assured them, I'm not leaving you until the ambulance gets here, and they're going to take good care of you, you're going to be OK, and you're going to be with your parents real soon.

And I think that's all I could do.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Patrick, I wonder, as someone who went to the Annunciation School and who is still a member of the church, if you could describe for us what the community is like there, what it's like to go to school there, what it would be like on a typical day when this ceremony was taking place where all the students go into the church and pray as part of the first week of the school year.

SCALLEN: Well, that's a real good question.

Now, interestingly, I was walking my dog this morning right by the church, and I saw a family of -- that live in our neighborhood. I know who they are of four, three kids that go to the school. And I thought to myself at that moment, what a wonderful thing Annunciation is that this continues.

I mean, I'm an old guy now, but it just really did my heart well to see that. And then this happened. But it's a wonderful place. My kids went to school there. My father went to school there. My grandparents were founding members. And it's a tremendous community. It's always been a solid school within the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

And it's truly a wonderful place. They did a tremendous job during the pandemic. And, I mean, I live in the house I grew up in, so it's part of my heart and soul. And it just really saddens me to think that this will always be a legacy of that place. But I'm hoping that the very, very positive vibes and direction of that parish will overcome this.

I'm sure it will. There's very good people there. There always has been. KEILAR: And, Peter, we obviously don't know the outcome, I would say

specifically for that little girl that you were talking about who was shot in the neck.

We know some of these children had to go to the operating room when they went there to the Hennepin Medical Center. I suspect you're going to want to be able to find out what happened.

SCALLEN: Yes.

I actually have some knowledge of the one girl that was shot in the head. But I think, out of respect for the family and them, I think -- looked optimistic, but I don't really want to comment more than that. I think that's medical information. And I want to be careful on that.

KEILAR: Yes, Patrick, we certainly, certainly understand that. But we are certainly hoping the best for these families.

And, Patrick, we're thankful that you were there, as I'm sure these families were, to comfort those children. And thank you. I think it's very important that people understand what it was like there today.

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And ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we will have more on this shooting, including how the victims' injuries are being treated. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to join us to discuss that and the toll that these shootings take on emergency personnel and first responders.

We did get a hint into some of that and what they're facing there in Minneapolis today, listening to the emergency director there of Hennepin Medical Center. We will have that next.

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DR. THOMAS WYATT, CHAIRMAN OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, HENNEPIN COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER: Dealing with gunshot wound injuries from apparently a high-velocity weapon. And gunshot wounds can be very problematic because they can involve multiple body systems.

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And, again, they require a lot of resources to manage. But, again, we see a lot of gunshot wounds at Hennepin Healthcare, and we're among the best in the nation every year at managing penetrating trauma. So we are used to seeing them.

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KEILAR: That was Dr. Thomas Wyatt. He's the chairman of emergency medicine there at Hennepin County Medical Center, which has the Level I trauma center, which is what took in the kids who were doing the worst here and the adults in this situation. He was speaking last hour about what first responders and emergency

room physicians are going through after this mass shooting in Minneapolis.

SANCHEZ: CNN's chief medical correspondent and trauma neurosurgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us now.

Sanjay, the shooter, we have learned, was armed with three different types of guns, a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol. And I imagine that that changes the types of injuries and potentially their severity as well.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it.

I mean, both -- all of them can cause pretty devastating injuries. But I think between what Dr. Wyatt was referring to, the high-powered weapon that he was referencing there, those types of injuries, which I have seen firsthand, are just the worst.

I mean, when you talk about a handgun, you're talking about basically an entrance wound and an exit wound that may be around the same size. But with these -- and this is tough to talk about in the wake of what has just happened. I mean, sometimes, we're just so procedural about this.

But just to give you some description, when you have a high-powered weapon like this, basically, it's causing a cavity within the body. So just imagine that in a small body. And so when he talks about multiple organ systems being involved, that's really what he's referring to. These can affect chest. They can affect abdomen, orthopedics.

Probably, you would have general surgeons, trauma surgeons, pediatric surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons all sort of involved and on stand by, especially for those high-powered weapon injuries. So it's very different. I mean, we do see them, unfortunately, more and more, but it does involve lots and lots of resources within the hospital and lots of special.

KEILAR: So give us a sense of that. I mean, when you're talking about that many different surgery teams involved -- and also I'm assuming the resources has to do as well with they're mobilizing a lot of blood products...

GUPTA: Yes.

KEILAR: ... and all kinds of things to help these kids and those adults.

How do they prioritize what they're doing first?

GUPTA: Yes, look, it is challenging.

I think, with Level I trauma centers, you do have a lot of those resources, first of all, right there in the hospital. So, my understanding was, they got the first call at 8:46 a.m. Just knowing how hospitals work, there was probably operating rooms that were -- already sort of had begun.

At that point, they basically probably called into those rooms and said, we're not going to do the next case. We're going to delay all the next cases. So try and open up as many operating rooms as possible. The surgeons, some of whom I named, orthopedics, neurosurgery, trauma surgery, pediatric surgery, they all go into sort of standby mode.

You're quite right about blood, Brianna, and they will obviously exhaust whatever supplies they have in the blood bank and then do an all-call for blood into the community, which is something that's probably going on right now.

But just to give you some context, this same hospital had another mass casualty shooting within the past 24 hours aside from this one, where my understanding was one person died and six people were brought to the hospital. It's unbelievable the frequency of this is happening.

At the hospital where I work in Atlanta, we had a mass casualty shooting this weekend. So this is happening all the time. Sadly, as a result of that, they are really well-prepared. They do a triage quickly in the emergency room. They typically go to scanners, C.T. scan, to get a better sense of what is happening inside the body.

Sometimes, they don't even have time for that. And then it's straight to the operating room. And in the operating room, the name of the game is to stop bleeding as quickly as possible, and then to try and reconstruct as much as you can.

SANCHEZ: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us as we await to learn more about the victims that are now being treated.

Still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, much more on the shooting in Minneapolis. We're actually going to speak to a state senator who represents the community that is now coping after a tragedy.

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