Doctors located a bullet fragment in the neck of a 10-year-old boy who went viral for sharing the story of how his friend leaped on him to protect him during a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where two children were killed and others injured.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne from Annunciation Catholic School was attending Mass on Wednesday when the shooting happened. He described hiding under a pew and covering his head as shots penetrated the stained-glass windows, and mentioned his friend Victor was shot while protecting him.
“I think I got, like, gunpowder on my neck,” he said after the shooting.
But doctors later discovered it was not just gunpowder that hit the 10-year-old’s neck, but a bullet fragment as well.
Weston’s father, Grant Halsne, informed NBC News that the fragment was close to — but did not hit — the 10-year-old’s carotid artery, which a doctor termed as a “miracle.”
“If it [the bullet fragment] went any further, he would’ve died,” Grant Halsne said.
The Halsne family is waiting to confirm the surgery date for removing the fragment, hoping it will be early next week. Although the fragment is in a very delicate area, Weston is expected to fully recover, his father stated.
Grant Halsne said the shooting has left his son scared and not wanting to be alone.
“He’s scared of loud noises,” the father said. “The kid to his left was killed.”
On Wednesday at around 8:30 a.m., 23-year-old Robin Westman shot a rifle through the side windows of Annunciation Catholic School’s church, targeting children seated in the pews.
Weston remembered thinking, “What is that?” when he heard the first gunshot. When he heard it again, he ran under the pew.
The student had practiced what to do during an active shooter situation, but never at the church, he said.
“I was like two seats away from the stained glass windows,” Weston said. “So, they were like, the shots were like right next to me.”
Westman was discovered deceased at the back of the church with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound, as per search warrants. She was dressed in black “tactical” gear, and authorities found roughly 120 shell casings from three different firearms she used, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
