Some children protected others in remarkable show of courage

Some children and teachers inside a Minneapolis church displayed remarkable courage under fire when an assailant began shooting at students attending a Catholic mass, medical officials said on Aug 28.

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MINNEAPOLIS - Some children and teachers inside a Minneapolis church displayed remarkable courage under fire when an assailant began shooting at students attending a Catholic mass, medical officials said on Aug 28.

One pre-teen student at Annunciation Catholic Church during the deadly Aug 27 morning attack took a shotgun blast to his back after putting his body in the line of fire trying to protect another child, county health officials said.

"There are a lot of maybe unrecognized heroes in this event, along with the children who were protecting other children," said Mr Martin Scheerer, a director at Hennepin Emergency Medical Services. "The teachers were getting shot at. They were protecting the kids."

The shooter killed two children before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and 18 teachers and children were injured, including a child taken to hospital in critical condition.

In the US, deadly gun violence has become increasingly commonplace at schools, churches and other settings once considered safe, despite efforts to beef up security and identify potential perpetrators before they can act.

The shooter, armed with a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun, fired through the stained glass windows of the church at students from an affiliated school, sitting in pews for a service to celebrate the start of the new school year.