Two children, just 8 and 10 years old, were killed when a transgender gunman unleashed a hail of bullets minutes after Mass began at a Minneapolis Catholic school Wednesday morning — leaving at least 17 injured and survivors detailing the horror of seeing their young classmates shot.

The students at Annunciation Catholic School and Church “were killed where they sat” in the pews when Robin Westman, 23, opened fire through its stained-glass windows during a celebratory back-to-school Mass filled with kids around 8:30 a.m., officials said.

“These kids were literally praying,” Mayor Jacob Frey said, praising the “heroic” teachers and older students who acted quickly to help protect the surviving youngsters “in the face of danger.”

“Kids died today, this needs to be about them.”

The wounded victims include 14 children — between the ages of 6 and 15 — and three elderly parishioners in their 80s, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.

The victims, who sustained a wide range of injuries in the gunfire, were taken to local hospitals and are expected to survive. 

While police have not released the names of the victims, the mother of eighth-grader Endre Gunter said that her son was shot in the stomach during the vicious rampage. 

“Our son was shot at school today, inside a church praying with his classmates,” Danielle Gunter told CNN in a statement.

She added that the young teen underwent surgery and is now recovering.

The shaken parent went on to thank a heroic Minneapolis police officer who rushed to their wounded eighth-grade son’s side, rendered aid and then prayed with the boy after he was struck.

“He said the officer rendered aid, hugged him, reassured him, and prayed with him before getting into the ambulance,” Endre’s mother said in the statement, adding that she is now focused on helping the traumatized boy “rebuild his life, his trust, and his confidence.

“We pray that everyone touched by this tragedy can find the strength to begin rebuilding, too.”

Weston Halsne, a fifth grader, was sitting beside the stained-glass windows when he ducked under a pew and covered his head as bullets from Westman, who identified as a transgender woman, ripped through just three minutes after Mass began, according to reports.

The 10-year-old boy said his classmate, Victor, was shot in the back while shielding him from the barrage of bullets. 

“My friend Victor, like, saved me, though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit,” Halsen told reporters, local outlet KARE reported. 

The young boy explained that their quick reaction came from regular active shooter drills practiced at school — though never in church — a difference that left Victor shot and hospitalized. 

“Three minutes in, the first shot was fired and the police were really good cause they showed up really quick,” Halsen added.

“It was super scary. [Victor’s] really brave, and I hope he’s good in the hospital.”

Halsen is praying for the others injured in the horrific attack, but noted feeling “relieved” when he finally got to hug his mom, who was the first person he saw outside the church when he escaped the mayhem. 

Pat Scallen, who lives down the street from the school, “ran right to the church” when he heard the sound of gunfire. The shooting had stopped by the time he arrived — and wounded children started exiting through the front doors. 

“About three of the kids came out, two of them were pretty badly hurt,” the former Annunciation student told CNN, adding that one child had been shot in the neck, a young girl was grazed across the forehead and a third seemed to have an injured arm. 

“They needed someone, and they were in distress. I felt it was important to calm them down and let them know that someone was with them and help was on the way.”

Norris Roberts, the step-grandfather of a 12-year-old boy wounded in the stomach, said the child is recovering after surgery but fears he may suffer long-term mental anguish from witnessing another student get shot in the head.

“It’s horrific for him to go through that, and it’s going to be a lifelong problem for him,” Roberts said, the New York Times reported. 

“I can’t fathom that happened, and you being stable. It’s not normal.”

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar revealed a former staff member had three children inside the church when the deranged Westman unleashed his barrage of bullets, including one who saw two classmates get shot.

The lawmaker, citing one of the young witnesses, said the terrified children dove to the ground for cover as bullets tore through the sacred windows of the church.

“She watched a child get shot in the stomach and another in the neck,” the Democrat told the Times. 

“Kids were scrambling down in the pews to protect themselves.”

Michael Simpon, grandfather of a 10-year-old who was nicked by a bullet, said he doesn’t know why God didn’t protect his grandson and the other victims during the mass carnage. 

“I don’t know where He is,” Simpson said of God, The Associated Press reported.

The 23-year-old shooter was not known to law enforcement and had no criminal record. 

Westman — who reportedly wrote “kill Donald Trump” and “for the children” on his gun magazines — died in the back of the church of a self-inflicted gun wound.

He was armed with a “rifle, a shotgun and a pistol,” O’Hara told reporters, describing the shooting as “sheer cruelty and cowardice.”

Police are still investigating a possible manifesto for Westman’s heinous crimes, which was allegedly uploaded to YouTube shortly before the killings and then taken down by the video-sharing website.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the federal agency is treating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism targeting Catholics.

“We lost two angels today,” Matthew DeBoer, principal of the school and church, said through tears.

“Please pray, and don’t stop with your words. This can never, ever happen again.”