On Aug. 27, 2025, a shooter opened fire on a back-to-school mass at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis just before 8:30 a.m. Two students — 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel — were killed in the shooting, which also left three adult parishioners and 26 children injured.
The Minneapolis Police Department declined interviews ahead of the one-year anniversary of the tragedy but released its own interviews with six officers who were on duty that day. This is MPD Officer Yusef Hassan’s story.
“Everyone was just immediately 100 mph”
Hassan was assigned to a SWAT team and said everyone was getting ready to exercise because it was a slow morning when suddenly someone came into the room and asked if they’d heard the radio.
“My stomach dropped,” Hassan said, noting that everyone started moving as fast as they could…