(NEXSTAR) — While investigators are still working to determine the motive in Wednesday’s deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic church in Minneapolis, some of the victims have been publicly identified.
Armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, the 23-year-old shooter fired dozens of rounds into the church as students and parishioners were gathered in the pews for Mass. The shooter then died by suicide, according to authorities.
Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed in the shooting. Officials said Wednesday that 17 people, 14 children and three parishioners in their 80s, were wounded. In an update Thursday, Minneapolis officials said another child injured in the shooting had been identified, bringing the total to 18.
Earlier, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said those who were injured were expected to survive. The condition of the newest victim is unknown.
The children who were killed have not been publicly identified, but police said they were sitting in the church pews.
Among the children who were injured is Sophia Forchas, a 12-year-old “who is now fighting for her life,” according to a GoFundMe. Forchas’ mother, a pediatric critical care nurse, rushed to the hospital to help with the influx of patients after the shooting “before knowing it was her children’s school that was attacked, and that her daughter was critically injured.”
Forchas, whose younger brother was also in the church but was unharmed, has undergone emergency surgery and faces a “long, uncertain, and incredibly difficult” road to recovery. The GoFundMe has raised more than $216,000, which will be used for hospital bills, counseling, family support, and lost wages, organizers wrote.
A GoFundMe has also been established for Endre, 13. The boy was “tragically shot twice” on Wednesday, his aunt wrote on the fundraiser webpage. Endre was rushed into surgery and is now recovering at the hospital.
“Our hearts are shattered — not only for him, but for everyone who was harmed,” Danielle Gunter, Endre’s mother, said in a statement to local media. “We grieve and we pray: for the others who were shot, for their families, and for those who lost loved ones.”
She added that a Minneapolis police officer “rendered aid, hugged [Endre], reassured him, and prayed with him before getting into the ambulance.”
Another boy, identified only as Victor, was struck by gunfire while shielding his friend, 10-year-old Weston Halsne. Halsne told The Associated Press that he ducked for the pews, covering his head, before his friend shielded him.
“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” Halsne, a fifth grader, said.
During a Thursday press conference, Hennepin EMS Chief Martin Scheerer said that a child “covered up another kid and took a shotgun blast to his back.” It’s unclear if that boy is the same one who protected Halsne.
Another child in critical condition was described as being “touch and go” by Dr. Thomas Klemond, the interim CEO of Hennepin Healthcare Clinic and Specialty Center. No additional details were provided.
In a statement obtained by CNN, Children’s Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis said it had treated and discharged four patients since the shooting. Three more children were still receiving care as of Thursday morning.
Stories of the “unrecognized heroes” have also started to pour out Thursday. A nurse — who “didn’t have anything to do with what we would normally respond to,” according to trauma surgeon Jon Gayken — noticed a child who was “very scared and alone” and went into the CT scanner with them.
“[She put] herself basically in harm’s way of radiation” and held the girl’s hand as she went through the scanner “so she didn’t have to go through it alone,” Gayken said.
The City of Minneapolis says the Minneapolis Foundation has established a text-to-donate line to “equitably distribute the funds to those affected” by Wednesday’s shooting. To donate, you can text ACF1 to 41444.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
