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Outside Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Jesse Merkel confirmed that his son Fletcher, 8, was one of the children who died in the mass shooting at the school.
“Yesterday, a coward decided to take our eight-year-old son, Fletcher, away from us,” Merkel said. “Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming.”
Fletcher loved his family and friends, fishing, cooking “and any sport that he was allowed to play.”
Merkel urged people to remember his son for who he was and not the violence that ended his life.
“I’m hopeful that all the wounded are able to make a full recovery and return home to their families, and finally, all the people, and especially the children impacted by this horrific event, are able to recover mentally and find strength to live loving, happy and full lives,’ Merkel continued.
“I’ve heard many stories accounting the swift and heroic actions of children and adults alike, from inside the church. Without these people and their selfless actions, this could have been a tragedy of many magnitudes more. For these people, I'm thankful.”
Merkel said he hopes his family can find healing.
“I pray that the other victim's family can find some semblance of the same,” he said.
The other victim of the shooting is 10-year-old student Harper Moyski. Members of Harper’s family, Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin, released a statement saying “Harper was a bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her.”
“While our immediate focus is on Harper and our family’s healing, we also believe it is important that her memory fuels action,” the statement said. “We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country. Change is possible, and it is necessary — so that Harper’s story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies.”
In addition to Fletcher and Harper, 18 people were injured in the shooting during a morning Mass on Wednesday. Of those 18 people, 15 were between the ages of six and 15 and three were in their 80s. Several people remain in critical condition as of Thursday morning.
Police identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted wound. The shooter, a former student, fired from the east side of the church and sprayed the worshippers, children as well as adults, with bullets from a pistol, shotgun and rifle and broken glass.
Some children recounted being shielded by other students as they sought safety on the ground and under pews.
"Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes. Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children," said Principal Matthew DeBoer.
Kris Kelly is the mother of a 12-year-old student in seventh grade at Annunciation who was not injured in the shooting. Kelly said there is a buddy system at the school, where older students are paired to sit with younger students at Mass.
“It sounds like they were all sitting with their buddies,” Kelly said. “The eighth graders were pulling down the younger kids to hide under the pews.”
Kelly said her son described that it wasn’t only bullets and glass hitting people, but shards of wood ricocheting from the pews, too. She said he described seeing many students hiding under the pews before he ran, following other kids scrambling to get out.
“My son ran, and he ran with some other kids down to the basement, where the school has preschool kids,” Kelly said. When she reunited with her son, Kelly said he wanted to make sure his friends who had remained in the church were OK.
Kelly watched as the friends reunited in the school gym, in a “beautiful yet gut-wrenching moment.”
“All of his friends saw him and ran to him and hugged him, and they all cried together,” Kelly said. “It was actually a beautiful moment in the wake of something so terrible, to see how much these kids love each other.”
Parents who were not in the church with their children learned about the shooting on their way to work or while at home. Duane Passa said when he learned of it, he was driving on the highway and rushed back to the school. The father of a seventh grader and two fifth graders said they shared pew rows with classmates who were hit by gunfire.
“When he was told to get down, he got down right away,” Passa said of his seventh grader, who shared his row with a girl struck. “It took her a second to process it, is what he said, and she got hit.”
His brother, Alex Passa said it sounded like fireworks in the church, then realized it was gunfire and ducked under a pew, “It was really scary because that probably went on for, it felt like an eternity, but it was probably five minutes.”
Reflecting on the past 24 hours, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said he’s thinking about the chaos officers encountered when they arrived at the scene.
“I know from dozens of officers who did respond that ran into the church and saw the unthinkable with all of these children so seriously injured,” O’Hara said. “Just how confusing it was for the officers, because no one knew if there was specifically just one shooter, if there were perhaps improvised devices that were there to go off.”
At vigils and in messages parents said they’re angry with political leaders and what they say is a lack of effective response to tragic incidents.
“I want to make clear that the violence my child experienced is part of the broader violence of the American empire,” parent Brooks Turner said “We can’t see this as separate or a lone wolf attack, but culturally systemic.”
A statement from Annunciation’s principal and pastor said they will let families know by the weekend when school will resume. “Investigators and others are still on campus doing their essential work and we expect this to continue for some time,” Principal Matthew D. DeBoer and Pastor Dennis Zehren said.
English (US) ·