Amy Forchas rushed to work at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning with no idea her life was about to be upended.
Her hospital was inundated with a dozen children wounded in a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and Church about 8.30am.
Sophia Forchas, a 12-year-old girl, was among those critically injured in an attack that tragically claimed the lives of two children and wounded 17 people.
Forchas, a pediatric critical care nurse, was on the front lines of treating the distressed, bleeding, terrified young children as they arrived.
A family friend detailed in a fundraiser, “Sophia’s mother rushed to work to assist in the disaster, unaware that the attacked school was her child’s, and her daughter was gravely injured.”
‘Her parents are by her side, holding onto hope while also trying to support their son through the emotional aftermath.’
Sophia had emergency surgery at her mother’s hospital and doctors were working to stabilize her in the ICU, they added.
‘Her road ahead will be long, uncertain, and incredibly difficult – but she is strong, and she is not alone,’ they wrote.
Sophia Forchas, 12, was wounded in the Annunciation Catholic School and Church shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday
Sophia had emergency surgery at her mother’s hospital and doctors were working to stabilize her
‘Adding to the heartbreak, her younger brother was also inside the school during the shooting.
Although he was not physically harmed, witnessing such a horrifying event and learning of his sister’s critical condition inflicts a trauma no child should endure.
Father Timothy Sas of St Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, where the Forchas family are parishioners, urged prayers for her recovery.
“Sophia, a St. Mary’s parish native, was raised with a deep connection to the Church, alongside several generations of her devout congregation-member family,” an online post noted.
‘Sophia’s family and I are truly thankful for the immediate embrace of prayers coming from literally all parts of the world.’
Two young children, aged 8 and 10, were killed in the shooting while 17 other victims, 14 of which were children, were wounded.
Emergency dispatch audio revealed the moment medical teams urged their colleagues to ‘bring all the gauze you have’ to treat victims.
One of the initial responders warned, “Minneapolis may have an active shooter,” as they encouraged others to carry extensive medical supplies to the site.
Another responder relayed over the radio: ‘Bring all the gauze that you have.’
A woman cries inconsolably outside the school and church after the shooting
Children mourning at a vigil on Wednesday night
Hospitals were instructed to brace for a mass casualty situation, with dispatch recording an official stating there were “two DOAs inside the church,” indicating two victims were declared “dead on arrival.”
‘We have… two patients with gunshot wounds to their heads in front. There’s also a critical patient in the rear of the church,’ another responder said over the radio.
Police identified the shooter as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old transgender woman who changed her name from Robert in 2019.
The shooter barricaded the doors to the church before firing through its stained glass windows, sending a hail of bullets at the children as they sat in the service to mark the beginning of the school year.
Police said the two children who lost their lives were killed as they sat in the church pews, while others ducked for cover as the horror unfolded.
A first responder on the 911 audio said they had one child who was ‘currently vitally stable,’ and added that they were ‘possibly just grazed’.
Police identified the shooter as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old transgender woman who changed her name from Robert in 2019
A parent hugs her son after two children were killed and injured 17 others were wounded at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday
Police rally outside the front of Annunciation Catholic School and Church in Minneapolis
Haunting images have emerged showing Annunciation Catholic School children beaming as they started their school year just days before a gunman murdered at least two of their classmates
Soon after the shooting began, Westman died by suicide, and a dispatcher could be heard relaying: ‘We have one suspect with a gunshot wound to the head – has a rifle and shotgun – he’s down right now.’
More details have emerged about Westman following the shooting.
A name change filing from 2020 reveals Westman identified ‘as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.’
It was also revealed that the shooter left a chilling memoir attending a military-like school, writing an ode to death titled ‘But Not The End’.
Westman was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol – police said. All were used in the attack and bought legally.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter approached the side of the church and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews.
Many of the families are ‘in shock, disbelief,’ he said, and were trying to come to terms with the tragedy that came as they were celebrating the start of the school year.
‘He just pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots,’ the parent, who did not want his name used, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
‘This is terrible,’ he added. ‘This is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this.’
