Minneapolis church shooting documents reveal swift response

Documents released a year after the Annunciation Church and School shooting in Minneapolis reveal a rapid, multi-agency law enforcement response, with first officers arriving about three to three-and-a-half minutes after the call and responders triaging injured students as they battled a chaotic scene. The trove of nearly 1,500 photos and hundreds of pages of witness accounts and evidence shows the scale of the crime scene across the church, a nearby playground, and surrounding blocks. Authorities say 23-year-old Robin Westman killed 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski and wounded at least 21 others before dying by suicide; Westman was armed with a rifle, shotgun, pistol, knives, smoke bombs, and ammunition. Some officers documented the gruesome conditions—blood, broken glass, and the smell of gunpowder—while one officer indicated he had not reviewed his body-worn camera footage. The records provide little clarity on Westman’s motive. Officials emphasize that the records underscore the challenges of rapid response and medical triage in a sprawling, violent incident.