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Doctor describes treating victims of Minnesota school shooting
Dr. Thomas Wyatt spoke to reporters outside Hennepin Healthcare and described how the events unfolded once he was notified by page of a “mass casualty situation.” Wyatt said seven patients were brought to the hospital in critical condition and four required the operating room. Nine of the 11 patients were children aged six to 14 years old.
Archbishop of Chicago calls for safety to be ‘national priority'
The archbishop of Chicago called on the government to do more to protect the safety of the public from what he called the "curse of gun violence" — and said such violence is a threat to rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“The facts are clear. Guns are plentiful and common sense attempts to limit their availability have been largely rejected in the name of a freedom not found in our constitution,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said in a statement after the shooting in Minneapolis.
“Cutbacks in funding for health care and social service programs will only exacerbate a national mental health crisis and increase alienation,” he wrote. “We therefore pray for those who hold the power to make the safety of our people a national priority.”
“We ask God to give them the courage to take the steps they know will alleviate if not eliminate the fear parents must feel sending their children off to school and Americans feel leaving their homes for simple errands. Surely they must be moved by these shootings,” Cupich wrote. “We pray that they will not see them as inevitable because then we will have certainly surrendered our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Family of slain Minnesota lawmaker calls for stricter gun control in wake of school shooting
The family of a Minnesota lawmaker who was gunned down alongside her husband said tonight that the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School should spur action on high-powered weapons.
State Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband Mark were shot dead in June in what officials have said was a “politically motivated assassination.“
"No one should have to suffer the loss of a loved one to gun violence," the Hortman family said in a statement.
The statement said the Hortmans believed people should be safe in their schools, places of worship and homes.
“Mark and Melissa believed that children should be able to gather in schools safely, that communities should be able to worship in peace, and that families should be safe in their homes," the family said.
"We hope this tragedy spurs elected officials to take action towards common-sense measures on access to high-powered weapons so that no one else must suffer," the family said, referring to today's shooting.
'This is insanity,' man with ties to Annunciation says after another mass shooting in the U.S.
In Lynnhurst Park in Southwest Minneapolis, well over a thousand people and children stood with lit candles at a Moms Demand Action vigil after another day in the United States in which a gunman opened fire at a public place.
This time it was a shooter who killed two children and wounded others after opening fire on a church service at Annunciation Catholic School.
Dick Ghizoni was walking his dog earlier today, and when he returned home his daughter told him there had been a mass shooting at Annunciation.
“I couldn’t believe her words, and when I heard it, my stomach turned — big time,” Ghizoni said outside the vigil. “My brothers and sisters and I went there, kindergarten through eighth grade. My parents were pillars of the community in the church.”
“It’s just horrible,” he said.
The vigil included moments of song and prayer, as well as calls to action that were met with loud applause. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison were among the elected officials who addressed the crowd.
Moms Demand Action, an organization that advocates for legislation and other measures that it says would prevent gun violence, said earlier today, “Enough is enough,” and it noted that Minnesota does not have a ban on what the group termed assault weapons.
The shooter used a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. Video posted by the shooter showed an AR-style rifle and other guns, as well as multiple ammunition magazines with messages written on them.
“This is nonsense, and it’s insanity — the same thing happening over and over again in a different community on a different day,” Ghizoni said.
Rep. Greenman calls for her community to come together
State Rep. Emma Greenman, whose district includes the site of the shooting at Annunciation Church, said her community is trying to wrap “support and courage” around the victims and their families.
Greenman said there is “so much more work to do” when it comes to combating gun violence across the country, adding, “We know that this is not a Minnesota issue; this is a national issue.”
"We have just now become a part of that heartbreaking and tragic community of communities that have suffered this real, horrific pain,” Greenman said.
She said society cannot become numb to violence like today's shooting, and she urged people to “turn to both their neighbors and every level of government and say we can and will do better by our kids.”
At nearby high school, terror as news of shooting spread
Academy of Holy Angels High School in Richfield is around 5 minutes down the road from Annunciation Catholic Church and School, and the two are closely linked.
And as news of the shooting spread at Holy Angels, where, junior Elizabeth Payne said, about half of all students went to Annunciation, it was even closer.
“And I just saw — like, the people in my class had siblings at Annunciation. And just the look of pure terror on their face,” Payne, 17, said after she attended a vigil at Holy Angels tonight.
“You see this all over the nation, but it’s never really happened this close,” she said.
Payne and Jessa Schultz, 16, were among many who attended the vigil tonight, hours after a shooter opened fire in an attack that targeted children attending church at Annunciation.
“I wanted to be here for my friends who had family members that were impacted by it, to show them that we all do really care about them and that we’re here to support them,” said Schultz, also a junior at Holy Angels.
The ages of the victims and where the attack took place were especially difficult, she said.
“I think that was the hardest part for me to hear. Church is supposed to be the one place where everyone’s accepted,” Schultz said. “And God loves everyone.”
First lady calls for 'pre-emptive intervention' to identify potential shooters
First lady Melania Trump tonight called for "pre-emptive intervention" to identify "potential school shooters," saying there are often early warning signs.
"Early warning signs are often evident, with many individuals exhibiting concerning behaviors and making violent threats online prior to their actions," Trump wrote on X, adding that taking notice of those signs "and acting quickly can save lives and make American communities safer."
"To prevent future tragedies, it is crucial we look into behavioral threat assessments across all levels of society—beginning in our homes, extending through school districts and of course, social media platforms," she said.
'She thought she was going to die today,' student's father says
Vincent Francoual said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, was in the church when shots rang out this morning, describing the moment as “complete chaos.”
Francoual said that when he got the call that there had been a shooting at her school, he rushed to the scene to be with his daughter.
“It was very emotional. She saw me first, and she just cried,” he said.
Francoual said that Chloe is “not really talking much” about the traumatic events in the chapel and that she feels “guilty” that she couldn’t help more of her classmates.
"She thought she was going to die today," an emotional Francoual said.
‘We have to be men and women of hope’: Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis delivered a message of hope after today’s mass shooting.
Annunciation Catholic School Principal Matt DeBoer said that the school planned this year’s theme to be Jeremiah 29, focusing on hope, and that “there’s nothing about today that can fill us with hope.”
Archbishop Bernard Hebda then spoke and referred to that sense of grief and loss in Minnesota and the country.
“I would never want to correct a principal, but Principal DeBoer said it wasn’t so clear where would be the source of hope. And brothers and sisters, we have to be men and women of hope,” Hebda said.
Hebda said that he has been receiving messages from all over the country promising prayers and that “I think it’s the prayers of the feet, as well.”
“That is, for me, is a source of hope, just as we see families stepping forward to help those who have been impacted by this terrible tragedy,” he said.
Witness Pat Scallen detailed the moment he heard gunshots and went running to help at the Catholic school. Scallen said he stayed with three kids and held the hand of one student who was shot until medics and police arrived.
